Recent Projects

Within weeks of Congress allowing longstanding offshore drilling bans to lapse, oil prices took a nose dive, which quieted the calls to “drill here, drill now.” However, before leaving office, the Bush Administration released a draft drilling plan that is being taken up by the Obama Administration.

As part of a raft of midnight regulations, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency worked together to finalize regulations that ease restrictions on mountaintop coal mining—in particular how and when mining operations can deposit waste, rocks, and soil in or near streams.

Since 1982, drilling for oil and natural gas has been off-limits along much of our nation’s coastline. But in September 2008, the U.S. Congress allowed the drilling bans to lapse, a decision with profound consequences—both positive and negative—for our nation’s economy and environment. Yet according to congressional staff, legislators did not review a single comprehensive study of potential costs and benefits before casting their votes.