Senate Democrats slam White House oil drilling plan

Several Democratic senators from states along the East Coast roundly criticized Tuesday the Obama administration's plan to allow offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. The move by Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland comes a day after the all-Republican congressional delegation slammed the President's proposal to declare 12 million acres of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) off-limits to drilling. The Republican opponents of that plan said the White House's move would hurt Alaska's economy. Democrats on Tuesday used a similar argument, arguing a potential oil spill could be catastrophic to the economies of their states. "The fact is drilling in the Atlantic is a risk-reward proposition," Menendez said. "All of the risk is put on the backs of our shore communities and all of the reward goes to Big Oil." The proposed plan released by the Department of the Interior would include 14 potential lease sales in eight planning areas -- 10 in the Gulf of Mexico, three of the coast of Alaska and one in part of the Mid- and South Atlantic, which includes areas offshore Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia...more