Yesterday the Houston Chronicle reported on the changes the Obama Administration is making to the federal program on coastal drilling leases. 

According to the article:

“Interior Secretary Ken Salazar  told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he was preparing two plans to govern leases on the outer continental shelf — one with court-mandated changes that would apply through June 30, 2012, and another completely new blueprint for leasing from July 1, 2012, until 2017.”

What this means is that the Bush-era proposal that would have allowed leases in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans has been scrapped.  There is a possibility that drilling off the coast of Virginia will be allowed in the future.

The new government plan includes a lot of ‘fees’ and taxes on companies who do offshore drilling.  Mr. Salazar says that these fees will be used to pay down the deficit. 

The article points out:

“Several oil patch senators said they were concerned that a related administration plan to get rid of tax incentives long used by the oil and gas industry to defray the high capital costs of drilling would curb domestic production.

“Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called the budget plan a collection of “draconian taxes on the oil and gas industry.””

It is a known fact in government that when you tax an activity, you get less of it.  The fees and taxes put on our oil companies for drilling offshore will be another obstacle in the path of energy independence for America.