New oil and gas drilling under the Obama administration

Domestic energy production, including oil and natural gas, was a big part of Barack Obama's energy platform.
 
Part of the problem, he said, was that energy producers were often slowed down by bureaucratic red tape.
 
To speed up development, he said he would expedite oil and gas drilling from domestic shale formations.
 
So far, the administration has sent mixed messages on the issue. On Feb. 25, 2009, Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar reversed a Bush administration decision to open thousands of acres for energy development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
 
"We are not taking it off the table for the possibility of development, but we are going to be thoughtful and deliberative,” Salazar said, according to Grist , an environmental news Web site.
 
Nevertheless, on Aug. 19, the Interior Department announced it had offered up to 55 million acres of U.S. public lands -- including offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, in Utah and about 70,000 acres in North Dakota -- for energy development.
 
"The responsible development of oil and gas resources on U.S. public lands is an integral part of President Obama"s comprehensive energy strategy for the nation,” Salazar said.
 
In the meantime, Salazar has also talked about creating a "one-stop shop" to expedite permits on Native American reservation land.
 
In a Jan. 4, 2010, Associated Press article Salazar said he would soon be announcing reforms in how energy leases are issued, but he did not give further details.
 
So, the Obama administration has taken some steps to speed up the cultivation of oil and gas resources on local land, but there's been no formal overhaul of the process. For now, we'll move this pledge to In the Works.