"For years, the debate over offshore drilling for gas and oil has been a war of sound bites between the “drill now, drill everywhere” crowd that dominated the Bush administration and the Republican campaign in 2008, and members of the environmental community who would leave the country’s outer continental shelf untouched.

Neither provided a satisfying answer to the twin demands of reducing this country’s dependence on foreign oil and protecting precious coastal areas. On Wednesday, President Obama struck a sensible middle ground.

He announced a decision to expand oil and gas exploration in selected areas of America’s coastal waters that will satisfy neither extreme but is, on the whole, a careful and useful addition to the steps he has already taken to reduce the nation’s energy dependence.

Mr. Obama noted pointedly and correctly that increased oil and gas drilling cannot possibly address the country’s long-term energy needs. It should be seen as just one element of his broader energy strategy — including fuel efficiency standards to be announced on Thursday, big investments in alternative fuels in the stimulus package and new loan guarantees for nuclear power.

The new strategy — the result of more than a year of work by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — also confronts an essential political reality: the Senate will insist on offshore drilling as part of a broader bill, expected after Easter, addressing climate change and other energy-related problems. Mr. Obama is trying to anticipate and shape that discussion by identifying areas that he thinks can responsibly be opened for exploration while quarantining others."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Drill, but Not Everywhere (The New York Times 4/1)

Also Today:
Obama drilling policy excludes Bristol Bay (The Anchorage Daily News 4/1)
Lawsuits still could stall exploration, drilling (The Anchorage Daily News 4/1)
President Obama opens new areas to offshore drilling (The Washington Post 4/1)
Obama Oil Drilling Plan Draws Critics (The New York Times 4/1)
Risk Is Clear in Drilling; Payoff Isn’t (The New York Times 4/1)

Related Stories:
Interior to support development off Alaska's north shore (3/31)
DOI delays decision on off-shore drilling in Alaska (11/20)
Editorial: Salazar's measured approach in Arctic (10/26)
Editorial: Protect Arctic from oil development (10/14)