Obama's Offshore Drilling Ban Flip-Flop

By Thomas Lifson

The Obama administration is reversing its March decision to open up the eastern Gulf and certain Atlantic and Pacific offshore areas to oil drilling. This means, of course, fewer jobs and more reliance on foreign oil.

This is good news for Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the Chinese oil company currently drilling in the eastern Gulf. But bad news for Americans.

Ed Lasky adds:

Do you think that the drilling ban lifting in October may have been designed to help Democrats on Election Day? Do you think the fact that the Dems got wiped out in the southern rim played into the decision to re-impose the ban-especially because some of the few remaining southern Democrats are becoming Republicans?

And what evidence does Obama have now that he did not have a few weeks ago that justifies the re-imposition of the ban?

Update from Ed Lasky:

Meanwhile, the carbon and reality hating administration is gearing up to speed the permitting of wind farms...that are woefully inefficient but beloved by the green schemers who rely on government mandates and subsidies to reap their wind-falls.

U.S. speeds wind farm permits

The Interior Dept. is speeding up the permitting process for wind farms that require leases from the federal gov't, a move meant to cut three or more years from the waiting time to get approval for offshore projects. Federal permitting for a wind farm near Cape Cod, Mass., took almost 10 years, but the gov't hopes to OK permits elsewhere for new projects by late 2011 or early 2012. The gov't will also map coastal areas to identify promising areas for future wind farms.