Salazar puts expanded offshore drilling on hold

The LA Times reports:

The Obama administration put the brakes on a push to expand oil and gas drilling off America's coasts Tuesday and promised to speed development of offshore wind farms. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced he will extend public comments for six months on a last-minute proposal by the Bush administration to open swaths of the California, Alaska, Atlantic and Gulf coasts for drilling. He also ordered Interior staff to compile data on the potential benefits from oil, gas and renewable development offshore and pledged public hearings on drilling, including one to be held on the West Coast. Salazar also said the department would finalize guidelines for developing wind and other renewable energy development, which Bush officials did not complete before leaving office. Salazar called the Bush drilling plan a "headlong rush" based on bad information and tilted toward "old energy."...