It was reported today that "The U.S. Minerals Management Service Friday proposed a five-year oil and gas lease sale that would auction offshore drilling acreage in areas previously banned."

With the nearsighted Congressional ban on oil and natural gas production off our nation’s coasts expiring last fall, we welcome MMS’s timely announcement of its updated plan for OCS oil and gas leasing. Tapping America’s energy resources will reduce the billions of dollars we send abroad for oil imports each year, stimulate economic recovery by creating tens of thousands of jobs, and increase royalty revenues to invest in national priorities like modernizing the nation’s infrastructure.

In this time of economic uncertainty and volatile energy markets, we can no longer rule out the value of our own significant proven oil and gas reserves, nor the possibility for new discoveries on and off the shores of the United States. We look forward to working with President-elect Obama, Secretary-designate Salazar, and the 111th Congress to ensure these American energy resources that are so vital to America’s economic and energy well-being are made available.

In our Blueprint and Transition Plan for Securing America’s Energy Future we made the recommendation to permanently end the moratorium and accelerate oil and gas leasing on and off America’s coasts.

According to a recently released study from ICF International, opening all areas previously restricted could create 160,000 new jobs by 2030 and increase domestic oil production by as much as 2 million barrels per day by 2030, displacing 18% of projected oil imports.  Additionally, natural gas production could increase by more than 5.3 billion cubic feet per day, displacing 61% of projected natural gas imports.  Moreover, developing all oil and natural gas resources on federal lands could produce more than $4 trillion in revenue for the federal government.

More from the release of the State of American Business.