White House to Continue Drilling Ban

The Hill reports on that the White House will ban and suspend several different drilling requests as a response to the oil spill:

The White House will continue a ban on new deepwater oil-and-gas drilling permits for six months and will also delay drilling in shallower Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast, administration officials said.

President Barack Obama plans to announce tougher offshore safety oversight at a news conference Thursday. The administration is also canceling a planned lease sale in the western Gulf of Mexico and another off Virginia’s coast.

The White House decisions are the most powerful signs yet that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is scrambling offshore drilling policy.

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