President Bush lifted a ban against drilling in an area of Alaska and Mexico:

President Bush lifted the drilling ban Tuesday for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, clearing the way for the Interior Department to open the fish-rich waters to oil and natural gas development.

Alaska officials as well as local communities had asked for the ban to be lifted, but environmentalists have warned against drilling in the bay, which is also a major fishing area for salmon, crab and cod.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said one or two lease sales in about 5.6 million acres of Bristol Bay will be considered for leasing in the department’s upcoming five-year 2007-12 lease plan.

Separately, Bush lifted a drilling moratorium in an area of the central Gulf of Mexico known as Lease Area 181, making that area available to drilling.

The timing of this is interesting.
If we want to end our dependence on foreign oil, then we’ve got to start tapping areas we wouldn’t tap before and not just one or two, we need many more sites. Bush needs to get serious about allowing oil companies to find new sources of oil.