U.S. tells plan to drill off California coast - U.S. Interior Dept, acting in Bush's final days...

[bridgit]

...proposed on Friday opening up 130 million acres off of California's coast to drilling for oil and natural gas, including areas off Humboldt and Mendocino counties and from San Luis Obispo south to San Diego.

After a hands-off policy for a quarter-century, the administration submitted plans to sell oil and gas leases for most of the U.S. coast, from the Gulf of Maine to Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Coast.

New drilling also was proposed in Alaska's Bristol Bay, one of the nation's most plentiful sources of fish, and the Arctic Ocean.

Washington, Oregon and protected parts of Florida were excluded along with waters off San Francisco Bay that lie within national marine sanctuaries.

On Friday, the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups greeted the news with praise, saying it is time for domestic energy supplies to be released from the moratorium.

But environmental groups and some Democratic leaders who oppose California drilling criticized the 11th-hour move, vowing to work with the Obama administration to promote energy independence based on clean, renewable technologies.

"President Bush's last-ditch effort to open our coasts to new drilling is nothing more than a parting gift to his buddies in the oil and gas industry," said Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/16/BA0F15C3FU.DTL