President Bush has been calling on congress to lift the moratorium on oil drilling so we can move United States energy policy into the 21st Century. However, it seems Bush hasn't done all he can to make that happen.
From CNS News:
Other leading Democrats on Capitol Hill also said they were surprised that Bush has not yet rescinded the executive office ban on drilling, which was established by his father, President George H.W. Bush, in 1990.
Congress imposed a moratorium on offshore drilling in 1981 and has extended it annually each year for all coastal waters, except for parts of the Gulf of Mexico and some waters off the coast of Alaska.
In 1990, the elder Bush also implemented an executive ban, which was extended by President Clinton, to last until June 2012. If the current president were to rescind that executive order, it would be a symbolic move because the congressional moratorium would still disallow further drilling.
Executive orders don't have the same teeth as laws passed by congress, so this EO has limited relevance.
Still, President Bush should do everything within his power to remove obstacles (or excuses) to new domestic oil production.
If all it does is remove one more nail Democrats have been using to hang their environmental extremist hats, then it's worth it.
Perhaps between removing this obstacle, and $4.00 gas, we'll finally do what we should have done decades ago.
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