Summary from Team Obama: Drilling for oil in Alaska? Bad; Drilling for oil off the Atlantic Coast? Good

The New York Times is reporting this morning that President Obama is about to allow energy companies access to the massive oil and natural gas reserves off of the Atlantic Coast. An excerpt:

The Obama administration on Tuesday will announce a proposal to open up coastal waters from Virginia to Georgia for oil and gas drilling, according to a person briefed on the plan.

At the same time, in Alaska, the administration will ban drilling in some portions of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, according to the person familiar with the plans, who could not speak publicly about them until the announcement.

Opening the Eastern Seaboard to oil companies is a prize the industry has sought for decades and is a blow to environmental groups. They argue that the move would put the coasts of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia at risk for an environmental disaster like the BP spill that struck the Gulf Coast in 2010, when millions of barrels of oil washed ashore after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

Ooooh, boy. Wait until the enviro-nuts read this!

Some on Twitter are already up in arms over the proposal:

https://twitter.com/DaveWarth/status/560084635791921152

Obama continues pattern of taking a step backward for each step or so forward on climate & environmental protections http://t.co/9dXNauUg9G

— Chip Giller (@cgiller) January 27, 2015

https://twitter.com/davjolly/status/559956064733773825

https://twitter.com/davjolly/status/559954848490463233

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There goes that new liberal firebrand Obama again, opening up oil & gas drilling on the Atlantic Coast http://t.co/IXFFIPyRPS

— David Dayen (@ddayen) January 27, 2015

And to be honest, we understand their frustration. Especially after the White House was so quick to highlight the president’s proposal to shut down drilling in Alaska:

RT if you agree: It's time to #ProtectTheArcticRefuge in Alaska → http://t.co/PmDLN867d9 pic.twitter.com/2GUqvYUlr4

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) January 26, 2015

Watch President Obama announce a new plan to protect Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge → http://t.co/TJHEX0d4K0

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) January 26, 2015

Weird. He left out the part about opening up the Atlantic Ocean to oil drillers. Oh well! Maybe he’ll have a new video soon?

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Related:

‘More proof Obama is a strategic idiot’: Administration ‘declares war on Alaska’ with new plan that would limit drilling