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This week Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will wrap up a series of regional pubic meetings aimed at informing a new energy development plan for the outer continental shelf, the 1.7 billion acres managed by the federal government off U.S. coasts, an area about three-quarters the size of the entire country.

In October 2008, in response to sharp increases in the cost of oil, Congress lifted a long-standing moratorium on oil and gas drilling off much of the Atlantic, Pacific and Alaska coasts. That was the first of several steps that could lead to expanded energy production offshore. Before any parcels can be leased to developers, however, they must first be included in a five-year program approved by the Obama administration and Congress.

At a public meeting in New Orleans on April 8, Salazar said he could have accepted the Bush administration's five-year plan for developing new energy resources offshore in 2010 through 2015, but decided to seek more input from people living in the coastal areas. He also extended to Sept. 21 the period during which the department will accept public comments.

While oil and gas production will remain a vital part of the new energy plan, Salazar said the Obama administration is eager to tap renewable energy sources, such as wind and ocean currents, that could be used to produce electricity.

Robert LaBelle, deputy associate director for offshore energy and minerals management at Interior's Minerals Management Service, said coastal states, including those bordering the Great Lakes, account for about 78 percent of electricity use in the United States. LaBelle spoke following Salazar at the New Orleans meeting, which, along with the other meetings, can be viewed on Interior's Web site.

According to Energy Department data, the greatest wind energy production potential is off the Atlantic Coast. If harnessed it could produce 1,000 gigawatts on an ongoing basis, scientists estimate. One gigawatt is equivalent to the production of three mid-size coal plants and could power 225,000 to 300,000 homes.

Even if only a fraction of wind resources were actually developed, the energy produced could power millions of homes, LaBelle said at the New Orleans meeting.

The Minerals Management Service and the U.S. Geological Survey recently published a report compiling scientific data on offshore energy potential, including conventional oil and gas as well as renewable sources. Officials briefed the findings in April at daylong public meetings in Atlantic City, N.J.; New Orleans; and Anchorage, Alaska; with a final meeting in San Francisco on April 16.

The five-year offshore plan will be part of a broader energy strategy the Obama administration will pursue.

Noting that Richard Nixon was the first president to coin the term "energy independence," Salazar said the Obama administration was determined to finally achieve it. While the administration wants to expand the use of renewables, the nation will depend on petroleum-based energy for the foreseeable future, he said, adding that advanced technologies, such as horizontal and directional drilling, have made conventional fuel production more efficient and less harmful to the environment.

According to Salazar, the administration's energy plan has three imperatives: create new jobs for Americans, reduce global warming and enhance national security.

"Today we are funding both sides in the war on terror," he said, referring to the fact that in any given month the United States imports 60 percent to 70 percent of the oil it consumes, often from countries hostile to U.S. interests.

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