On June 18, 2008, President George W. Bush called for the lifting of a 27-year-old United States ban on offshore oil drilling. Two days earlier, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain called for the lifting of the ban in a speech to oil industry executives in Houston.
Offshore Oil Exploration
President Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush signed an executive order in 1990 which strengthened the ban Congress enacted years earlier. In 1998, President Bill Clinton extended the ban until 2012. Opponents of lifting the ban claim that any new drilling will not result in additional oil until years later, and that environmental and tourism concerns make additional drilling unpopular and unlikely.The New York Times: Bush Will Seek to End Offshore Oil Drilling Ban (June 18, 2008)
References
Fast Facts
-
Year ban put in place
-
Fact:
John McCain supports lifting the ban
-
Fact:
Barack Obama opposes lifting the ban
-
Fact:
Ban is on drilling on outer continental shelf
-
Fact:
Outer continental shelf is three to 200 miles offshore
-
Fact:
Ban enacted to protect environment, tourism
