OFFSHORE ENERGY

US Interior Secretary breaks with 'drill-only' energy policy
February 10, 2009 (AFP)

"US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar…moved away from "drill-only" energy policies as he blocked a last-minute attempt by the administration of George W. Bush to push through the sale of offshore leases to gas and oil companies...

"What Salazar called a "midnight action" by the previous administration favored big oil while ignoring developers of renewable energy…Salazar also decried the previous administration's decision to give the public just six weeks to comment on the proposal…The administration of President Barack Obama, who has pledged to make government transparent and inclusive, would hold meetings in the four regions affected by the offshore lease proposal, Salazar said."

offshore wind (click to enlarge)

"And the new interior secretary has commissioned a report from the US Geological Survey and the Minerals Management Survey (MMS) which would "assemble all the information we have about offshore resources, conventional and renewable."

"Salazar's promises to change the way the United States forges its energy policies…[and] to move toward an energy policy not focused solely on fossil fuels."

wave energy (click to enlarge)

"'For the last eight years, America has taken one road to energy independence, which was drill, drill, drill…I intend to do what the prior administration failed to do and that is to build a framework for offshore renewable energy development so that we can incorporate the great potential for wind, wave and ocean current energy into our offshore energy strategy,' Salazar said…

"Under Obama, the United States would move from a drill-baby-drill energy approach to a comprehensive plan that does not torpedo renewable energy sources…"