Obama administration decides to delay expanded oil drilling off Florida's coasts

Expanded offshore oil drilling off the Florida coast won’t happen until at least 2017 under a policy issued by the Interior Department this week.

The policy put Florida's Atlantic coastline and the eastern Gulf of Mexico off limits to drilling at least through 2017 and instead, directs new wells to areas already leased for drilling, including 43 million acres in the western and central Gulf.
Interior Director Ken Salazar said the change in policy is a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the federal government now wants to put more stringent safety rules in place before opening up new areas to oil wells.
Before the BP oil spill, the Obama administration had planned to allow oil and gas exploration as close as 125 miles off Florida's west coast.


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