AFP-VA Statement Regarding Virginia’s Exclusion from 5-Year Offshore Plan

The Obama Administration today released the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Development Plan, but did not see fit to include Virginia in the proposal. Virginia officials have long sought to be able to explore for oil and natural gas off the Atlantic coast, a position with which Americans for Prosperity-Virginia wholeheartedly agrees.

AFP-Virginia state director Trixie Averill today issued the following statement:

“This proves once again that President Obama does not care a lick about job creation in Virginia or efforts to achieve energy independence. After playing keep-away with Virginia’s desire for oil and gas exploration rights over many months, he has now finally turned his back on the possibility of millions of dollars in private investment and the creation of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth.

“We continue to support the goals of Governor McDonnell, the General Assembly and a bipartisan coalition of our members of Congress, and argue that Virginia should be allowed to explore for natural resources off her own shores. Obama’s dreams of windmills and solar panels may be attractive in his liberal Utopia, but in the real world we’d like to be able to access our tangible deposits of energy right here at home.”