I worked on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico- I'd say dozens of 'em. The 2 things that BP, Shell, Chevron/Texaco, Conoco/Phillips, Hess, etc. etc. are obsessed over are safety and the enviroment. In reality, pretty much the only time there are spills is when a rig is destroyed during a hurricane- even then, the drill heads are secured, so there are no drill pipes connected to the oil deposits when the hurricane comes through. That being said, it seems more and more of the gullible folks who bought Obama's brand of manure are getting mighty pissed off at him. The rigs are so far out they can't be seen from shore- but come on- do we really need a few hundred more rigs off our coasts? I don't think so.

Golly. Is this another flip-flop by our wishy-washy leader?

Dear President Obama:

There is no justification for the Afghanistan troop surge, allowing the next generation of nuclear generators or drilling for oil.

There is every justification for ending all of our wars.
Teaching our military how to be useful as peaceful warriors.
Using justice to speak truth to power.
Stealing from the rich to pay the poor.

Allowing the goddamn Bush Cartel to be exposed.
Prosecuting pedophile priests.
Legalize it.

OK, so you just signed us into socialized medicine for the foreseeable future, now you want us to believe you care what we pay at the pump?

Pandering out of one side of his mouth while closing sites already approved and setting up cap and trade with the other. He's smooth, no doubt about it. But I wouldn't buy a used car from him.

Don't believe the hype. He has so many outs in his annoucment. It is a way to draw moderate Dems and Republicans to the 'Cap and Tax' bill.

All the time and money invested in finding oil could have been used to find a new energy source.

The world is running out of oil and I think the lifting of a 20 year ban is a clear sign. Its sad but more and more stories like this are going to start popping up in the coming years. Its a bit scary especially for the US who consumes the most.

Production platforms actually provide a base for increased marine life. Commercial and sportsfisherman in the Gulf of Mexico are well aware that the best fishing is around the platforms. Sports/Scuba divers target the platforms as the most prolific sites for observing various species of fish or spearfishing. As a young man I was lucky to spend time on these platforms. I have seen some of the most unbelievable sights in Nature while on the oil producing structures. Whale sharks, Manta Rays, Wild Dolphins close enough to touch, Many Hammerhead sharks, Sea Turtles, a Moray eel, and almost every fish in the Gulf. Please remember that an oil platform is much like an iceberg, 2/3rds or more is underwater and cannot easily be compared to the surface structure.

1) I can just imagine how Republicans will criticize Obama for this. Anyone who thinks ANYTHING Obama does (other than commit suicide or at least resign from office) will be "welcome news" to Republicans is fooling themselves.

2) So, is Obama being hypocritical in allowing offshore drilling when he previously said he wouldn't? The answer to this is: 1) Who cares, and 2) He did say later on during the campaign that he was in favor of limited offshore drilling.

Why who cares? That's simple. The US imports 65% of its oil. This oil has to come from somewhere, meaning that in order to supply this demand for oil some pristine environment is going to be destroyed. One proposed area off Virginia may hold 130 million barrels, for example, the equivalent of just ten days worth of imports. But if this resource isn't tapped, then the 130 million barrels will simply come from elsewhere, be it the Caspian Sea or somewhere else. So the only real issue here is energy consumption. Find a solution to clean renewable energy in the United States and this wouldn't be an issue in the first place.

One other reason for drilling off the coast of the United States is geopolitical, since more oil that can be obtained at home = less influence for countries that produce oil but aren't on the friendliest terms with the US.

Somebody keep this thread on standby for when a conservative calls the community Obamatrons or Obamaiacs or whatever the made up word is for someone who follows the president blindly because obviously that is rubbish.

He owns General Motors and Chrysler now, what did you expect?

He upped the fuel economy standards by 10mpg today for cars, trucks, and SUV's. He also created the first ever cap on greenhouse emissions from tailpipes. I think politically he's using the hot button republican issue to cover his other actions and it might be the smokescreen for a more ambitious and comprehensive agenda. I feel like healthcare was sometimes this same political foil, pushing other priorities out of the headlines.

I still don't know if the president is an adept at some strange Jedi mind game with progressive or the most effective republican of our generation but I'm convinced that he's a pragmatist for pragmatic sake that in the end he doesn't really stand for much of anything for progressives themselves. He doesn't take strong stands for policy, he just wants bills to sign. The best reason to vote for him as a progressive has always been what the alternative is, not because he'll actively defend any of our causes because he never has in his presidency and because we went along with him on Healthcare and they watched progressives cave he never will. I doubt any president elected in the next generation will ever take progressive voices seriously after watching the Obama model for dealing with his base, the old "punish the hippy" approach.

of all the bans he could have lifted, 20 year ban on oil drilling? .......... really!?
apperently we can suck the earth dead and dry but marijuana is still too much to ask.

way to postpone the inevitable.

Sweet Jesus this is retarded with a capital R. I was born in Virgina and I've lived in Florida for almost two decades and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the last thing either coast line needs is an oil platform.

Obama got balls............

what? why?! not good...

They won't have to drill for oil if they just put some turbines at the bottom of the ocean. The power that lies in the ocean's deep sea currents is unimaginable.

"Where exactly is the change to believe in?" -- jay_ct

Exactly how I feel hearing this news... back to the drawing board...

*tear* Goodbye Fl tourism, shark fishing in the Gulf, manatees, and millions of little animals... We will miss you. And it was so pretty.

Thank the gods we all voted for "drill baby drill," errr, I mean "change we can believe in."

I keep hoping that these are all his tactics to get republicans and conservatives to vote for him next time so that in his last term he can go all out crazy and approve gay marriage, legalize cannabis, COMPLETE public options, etc. Denial is a nice thing.

I am not understanding the shock and sudden realization that Obama is just like Bush. Obama kept guantanamo bay, didn’t get the troops out of Iraq like he said, expanded the war in Afghanistan, increased unmanned Drones raids on Pakistan, air striked Yemen killing 80 civilians, renewed the patriot act, continued banker bailouts, broke Bush’s record on deficit spending in one year, passed the buck on DADT to Pentagon to get lost in administrative bureaucracy when could have ended it with an executive order, now he is Cow-towing to big oil.

He took all of Bush’s policies and put them on steroids. George w. Obama.
--THERE IS ONLY ONE PARTY--

I don't believe he promised NOT to allow drilling. He indicated that he wanted other options to take priority. Also he is clamping down on Alaskan sites. This will not make Palin happy. Virginia and the Gulf States are "red" in color so I"m sure this is some sort of compromise. That is what politics is all about.

Sorry if the left is disappointed. They should be used to it by now on a much larger scale.

i'm not a drone. i'm supportive but i'm PISSED. this is not right.

a lot of other things he does i can try to understand- i'm not there i'm not the one calling the shots and needing to make the big stuff happen and work with a bunch of smart people and a bunch of idiots tied together with red tape. a lot of things i try to think of in the long term and in ways other than just 'i want it now'. but this is fucked up.

I'm pleasantly surprised that the unconditional Obama faithful aren't on this post making every criticism of Obomba down.

He knows who butters his bread . Just like any other politician , IF he does anything really for the people , it will be a miracle .

everyone needs to remember we get more than just fuel energy from crude oil. we get thousands of common products we all use daily because of oil by products.

we all wouldn't even be able to be here without oil, and i mean specifically the computers we're all using (maybe some of you are on phones i dunno but same story).

it's not just energy folks.

fucking retarded....let destroy more wildlife for a nonrenewable source.

the only way for America to become fuel independent is to grow HEMP for biomass.....

starting to look like obama is just another politician......$$$$$

Sounds like a temporary solution that will save us money on oil until energy efficient/ oil free vehicles are more available to American consumers (lots of people still can't afford a hybrid and the hybrids aren't completely independent from gasoline). Gasoline is not obsolete yet. It has to come from somewhere and perhaps its better that it comes from here than overseas b/c it'll be cheaper. Sucks for the environment for now...

i don't like this decision but it makes sense.

We could either open off-shore drilling to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, OR we could invest into solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I choose the latter.

Just like I've been saying OVER AND OVER. Obama works for the SAME corporations that Bush did. It's not a matter of party lines or liberal or conservative. The president is going to continue to do stuff like this, and more. So get ready to see more promises broken.

Obama = Bush with better charisma. He's not doing this to "please republicans". He's doing this because he is owned by the major corporations running our world and bringing us a whole new level of slavery. Abortion... Weed... all of these stupid little issues are just distractions. We're being raped and pillaged. Time to start demonstrating, people!

Sarah got her wish after all. Drill baby drill!
Where is your applause you neo-con douches?

There are so many other reasons than global warming to move on from oil.
Damage to the environment from drilling, we make everything imaginable from oil byproducts.... it's FINITE.... I mean smog is kinda cool... oh what's the point.
Where exactly is the change to believe in?

Wow, Obama....he broke a promise I actually held dear to my heart...see, this is why I'm moving toward progressive....fucking lying politicians....

Way to break my heart, Barack....

Stop trying to please Republicans WHO WILL NEVER LIKE YOU and start doing what is right for this environment! I'm fed up with this sh^^ already!

It's like chess, move a pawn here, lose a pawn there. This move seems to me to be nothing more than that, a bargoning chip of sorts.

create jobs? Ughh this is why I hate politicians, he says this to whip up the public support but they should be drilling for geo thermal energy. Oh never-mind now they're rolling out the clean coal argument....

I need to find people rich enough who wants to start a geo thermal energy company so we could put all these idiots and their ideas out of business forever.

He's really no different than any of the other blue dogs, really just republican lite. Oh, but I guess I'm a teabagger if I call Obama out for showing his right-wing colors. Is there any logic to any of this anymore?

He is so one-term. There was good reason why there hasn't been drilling allowed.