Salazar galls lawmakers from Gulf states

A much-anticipated meeting to smooth over tensions between Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the drilling industry appeared to falter Monday as oil and gas executives, joined by Gulf state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, described Mr. Salazar's visit to Houma, La., as all talk and little action. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, secured the meeting last week in exchange for releasing a legislative hold she had placed on President Obama's budget director nominee. She and other advocates of offshore drilling hoped Mr. Salazar's visit would be accompanied by a streamlined process for approving permits in the wake of the Obama administration's decision to lift its ban on offshore drilling, which it imposed in the aftermath of the BP PLC oil spill this year. Instead, officials said, the meeting resulted in little more than rhetoric...more