By GottaLaff
US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday moved away from "drill-only" energy policies as he blocked a last-minute attempt by the administration of George W. Bush to push through the sale of offshore leases to gas and oil companies.At least it's a step away from the onslaught of those last minute ugly Bush stains. Let's remember these welcome departures from BushCo's destructive policies when we stress over some of the ObamAdministration decisions that disappoint us."On January 16, the last business day of the Bush administration, the administration proposed a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing," Salazar told a news conference.
What Salazar called a "midnight action" by the previous administration favored big oil while ignoring developers of renewable energy. [...]
Salazar also decried the previous administration's decision to give the public just six weeks to comment on the proposal.
"It was a process rigged to force hurried decisions based on bad information ... a process tilted toward the usual energy players while renewable energy companies and the interests of American consumers and taxpayers were being overlooked," Salazar said.
"We need to set aside the Bush administration's midnight timetable for the plan," he said, ordering a six-month extension for the public hearings, putting the deadline back from March to September.
The administration of President Barack Obama, who has pledged to make government transparent and inclusive, would hold meetings in the four regions affected by the offshore lease proposal, Salazar said.
And the new interior secretary has commissioned a report from the US Geological Survey and the Minerals Management Survey (MMS) which would "assemble all the information we have about offshore resources, conventional and renewable."
Salazar's promises to change the way the United States forges its energy policies followed on from action he took last week to block the sale of exploration contracts to gas companies on wilderness land in Utah.
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