Bush Lifts Executive Offshore Drilling Ban
U.S. President George Bush Monday renewed his call for Congress to repeal the ban on offshore oil exploration, in place since the early 1980s.
Americans are concerned with the high price of gasoline, Bush said in a Rose Garden announcement in which he lifted an executive order prohibiting offshore drilling.
The move is seen as largely symbolic, as it cannot circumvent federal and state bans on offshore drilling.
Bush, who leaves office in January, renewed his call for opening restricted areas of northern Alaska to oil production.
It’s been almost a month since I urged Congress to act — and they’ve done nothing, the Republican president said. “And as the Democratically controlled Congress has sat idle, gas prices have continued to increase.
To reduce pressure on prices we must continue to implement good conservation policies, and we need to increase the supply of oil, especially here at home.