Two Offshore Lease Sales Cancelled

In the wake of the as-yet-unresolved Gulf Oil Disaster, the Obama administration has taken the proactive step of canceling 2 offshore oil and gas lease sales, one in the Atlantic off the Virginia coast and another in the Gulf of Mexico.

The administration says it is canceling the lease sales to "allow time to develop and implement measures to improve the safety of oil and gas development in Federal waters, provide greater environmental protection, and substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events.”

But the pull-back isn't enough for environmentalists, who want the administration to halt its entire plan to expand new oil and gas leasing in the eastern Gulf, the Atlantic and the Arctic.