When a clean environment is important for the economy the criticism will still be unmerciful:
The Obama administration is expected to withdraw its plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those states’ top leaders.
The announcement by the Interior Department, which is seen as surprising, could come as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to speak on the record because the plan had not been publicly disclosed.
The decision represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling. …
via www.nytimes.com
But this is just a movement along the production frontier between two sectors of the economy, tourism and energy (not the nonmarket value part of the environment, but that will be protected too as a result of this decision). With low energy prices one could make the argument that increased drilling off the southeastern coast is not all that necessary.
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