Obama administration reverses plan for Gulf oil drilling
Top story: The Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it would maintain a ban on offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic Coast for the next five years. The new plan marks a reversal of President Obama's energy policy announced in March, and sets up a clash with Republicans and business interests.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar explained the policy shift was precipitated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which leaked almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico this summer. The administration's plan, he explained, was to "focus and expand our critical resources on areas that are currently active" rather than expand energy exploration into new regions. He did leave the door open to a change in the policy regarding the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is still subject to a congressional moratorium on drilling, saying that the administration would be willing to discuss energy exploration in the region as "part of a balanced package that includes other energy priorities of the president."
The new plan also delays two scheduled lease sales for energy exploration in the central and western Gulf of Mexico until the end of next year, at the earliest. Salazar said that the Interior Department would also conduct new research on the environmental impact of drilling off the coast of Alaska, which could also delay plans to drill there.
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| Europe - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had been "deeply misled" about the political climate in Russia.
- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against allegations, made in the WikiLeaks cables, that he had money stashed away in eight Swiss bank accounts.
- Vatican officials said that Pope Benedict XVI would enthusiastically use an electric popemobile.
Americas - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called for the ratification of the New START treaty.
- WikiLeaks cables reveal that U.S. diplomats expressed concern over the high level of anti-Americanism in Canada.
- The Cuban government is encouraging a public debate over plans to reform its socialist economy.
Africa - An opposition leader's office was attacked in the Ivory Coast, killing four.
- Nigeria plans to charge former Vice President Dick Cheney over a bribery scandal involving Halliburton.
- Nigerian soldiers raided three militant camps in the Niger Delta region.
Middle East - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood withdrew from the second round of the country's elections.
- Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh rejected the suggestion that al Qaeda operated in the Gaza Strip.
- Donors at a conference in Kuwait pledged $3.55 billion to develop eastern Sudan.
Asia - Malaysia expressed concern that international drug rings are using Facebook to recruit young Malaysian women as drug smugglers.
- A U.S. diplomat wrote that the president of Sri Lanka bore responsibility for a 2009 massacre of ethnic Tamils.
- A Chinese official said that his country's relationship with North Korea had survived "international tempests."
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-David KennerJUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images
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