House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced an end to the deepwater drilling moratorium in the Outer Continental Shelf:

“Today’s announcement isn’t time for applause, it’s time to demand real, straight answers from this Administration – especially when thousands of American jobs and our nation’s energy security are still in limbo. 

“This Administration has taken a shoot-from-the-hip approach to the moratorium on offshore drilling.  Their first moratorium was struck down by federal courts for not being based on science.  Then they imposed a de facto ban on shallow-water drilling by issuing new permits at a snail’s pace.  This is why today’s announcement is so difficult to fully trust.

“They claim their arbitrary, job-killing deepwater ban is being lifted, yet promise only to look at applications to resume drilling and vaguely threaten unknown new regulations in the future. 

“The question remains, will the Obama Administration actually allow drilling work to resume or is this just pre-election rhetoric?  Will the Administration follow through on this announcement, set clear policies, and allow people to return to work?”

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