Bush Drops Executive Ban On Offshore Drilling

President Bush announced the ending of the executive ban on the White House lawn Monday morning. Photo courtesy the AP.

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by Jamey Kirk

Story Created: Jul 14, 2008 at 12:45 PM AKST

Story Updated: Oct 12, 2010 at 4:06 PM AKST

Anchorage, AK - An executive ban on offshore drilling that has stood since the time of his father's administration, was lifted on Monday by President Bush. The lifting of the ban comes in conjunction with a series of proposals to combat rising gas prices.

White House officials admit that the President's actions will not provide immediate relief, but would help eventually.

Unless Congress votes to lift the congressional ban, which has stood for nearly 27 years, nothing will come of the President's change in policy.

Bush is the first President since his father initiated the ban to come down on the side of offshore drilling. It was the goal of the previous administrations to protect the nation's coastal states' tourism economies.

In addition to coastal drilling, the president has proposed opening ANWR in Alaska for drilling. Lifting restrictions and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have also been offered as resolutions by the President.
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