"The Obama administration on Wednesday reversed its plans to expand offshore drilling along the Atlantic coast and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in a retreat prompted by last summer's oil spill.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the new approach will allow federal regulators to continue beefing up offshore drilling safety requirements in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The spill revealed that "we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime," Salazar said. "The most appropriate course of action is to focus on areas with existing leases and not expand to new areas."

The move rescinds President Barack Obama's high-profile March 31 announcement that he would consider allowing drilling 125 miles off the Florida Gulf Coast and would launch studies that could pave the way for exploration off the middle and southern U.S. Atlantic coast."

Jennifer A. Dlouhy reports for the Houston Chronicle December 2, 2010. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Offshore Drilling Policy Reversed" (Washington Post) [3]

"U.S. Drops Plan To Drill in Eastern Gulf" (New York Times) [4]