U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Upset At Reach Of New Offshore Drilling Plan

By Mike Hothi

President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy Karen Harbert expressed disappointment with the Obama administration’s announcement that the newest installation of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Leasing Program neglects the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

“Today the administration’s proposed leasing plan rejected the opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in this country by taking yet another step to constrain options for increased domestic energy production,” Harbert said in a statement.

Harbert believes the proposal does not provide much hope for oil and natural gas production on federal lands.

“We are disappointed that the administration is once again forgoing an opportunity to make our energy future more secure and our economy more competitive.”

The President’s proposal would provide offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska but Halbert argued that, by neglecting new exploration and development on the Atlantic or Pacific coastlines, the proposal does not go far enough to create jobs for the country.