Gulf Coast lawmakers press to lift offshore drilling ban

Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the Gulf Coast are working together to lobby the administration to speed up permits for offshore drilling in shallow water and to lift the moratorium on drilling in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico. "This ban hurts everybody," Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., said on the House floor Thursday. "We stand united on the Gulf Coast to support good-paying jobs." Boustany and other Gulf Coast lawmakers, including Alabama's representatives, said the administration's policies could cost the region's already fragile economy thousands of jobs. "Deepwater drilling supports thousands of jobs along the coast, and I urge the administration to keep the families these jobs support in mind when conducting safety tests," said Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Montgomery. "It is, without a doubt, in everyone's best interest to get deepwater oil workers back to work as quickly as possible." Environmentalists applaud the drilling ban in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill...more