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US President Barack Obama is set to allow oil and gas drilling off Virginia in a bid to reduce foreign energy dependency, officials say. He is also expected to announce that the lifting of the ban on drilling off much of the rest of the Atlantic coast will be considered. But he is expected to reject some new drilling sites planned in Alaska. The long-standing drilling ban covered the Atlantic coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska. White House officials hope Wednesday’s announcement by the Democratic president will attract support from Republicans, who adopted a chant of “Drill, baby, drill” during the 2008 presidential campaign. The drilling decision could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress, the Associated Press news agency notes. Long-standing ban Mr Obama’s plan, revealed to news agencies by unnamed White House officials, aims to reduce US dependence on foreign oil, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and create jobs. Environmentalists say the proposal is not worth the environmental risks. They say there is relatively little oil to be found in the offshore areas. Early in his presidency, Mr Obama said US reliance on foreign oil posed a threat. Outlining his energy priorities then, he said the country would not be held “hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes, and a warming planet”. He called for greater fuel efficiency and an “energy economy” aimed at creating millions of jobs. In 1981, a congressional moratorium prohibited oil and gas drilling along the east and west coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area accounting for some 80% of the US’s Outer Continental Shelf. President George Bush imposed a moratorium on coastal oil exploration in 1990. The federal bans were enacted in part to protect tourism and lessen the chance of oil spills washing on to beaches.

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