Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he would ensure North American energy independence by 2020 by pursuing a sharp increase in production of oil and natural gas on federal lands and off the U.S. East Coast.
Romney said the U.S. economy can add three million jobs by tapping oil and gas reserves in the United States.
Romney would open up areas off the U.S. East Coast to oil exploration, and in particular would reverse Obama's decision to suspend development off the coast of Virginia following the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He would establish a five-year offshore leasing plan that would open new areas for development beginning with those off the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas.
A Romney administration also would seek a North American energy partnership with Canada and Mexico, and it would allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas, which has been delayed by the Obama administration.
The White House faulted Romney's plan for relying too heavily on fossil fuels. -
