White House announcements and Surfrider's response

This morning, the White House announced that it will be extending the moratorium on new deep water well drilling for six months, along with plans to cancel the proposed lease sales off the coasts of Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as suspending planned exploration of two sites in Alaska.

In response to this announcement, the Surfrider Foundation has release the following statement:

“While the Surfrider Foundation lauds the steps taken today by the White House, we are steadfast in our stance that this is not enough and call upon President Obama, as well as our congressional representatives, to immediately enact a permanent moratorium on new offshore drilling.”

The announcement was followed by a press conference in which Obama was grilled by reporters on the government's response to the calamity, which has been widely criticized by everyone from Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, to longtime Democratic party strategist James Carville.