http://www.reuters.c...TRE7A77FL20111108


Representative Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, praised the plan for keeping the East Coast free of drilling.

"We still don't know the answers about the long-term effects of the BP oil spill on the fisheries of the Gulf, and East Coast fishermen would rather never even have to ask those types of questions about an Atlantic spill," he said in a release.

Since the BP accident, Republicans and oil state Democrats have complained that the Obama administration has needlessly pulled back on offshore drilling and taken actions they say sacrificed jobs and energy security.

Several of the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination have made increased domestic drilling a major part of their plans to bolster the economy.

The American Petroleum Institute called the administration's plan a good first step, but wanted additional areas opened.


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