In a proposal issued the week before Katrina, the Department of the Interior announced it wanted to open the outer continental shelf (600 to 9, 500 feet underwater) to exploration in the next round of lease auctions.

FORBES: Open the Spigots

The recent energy bill opened the door to this resource by directing Interior to conduct a complete inventory of reserves along the shelf, including the use of cutting-edge 3-D seismic imaging techniques.

FORBES: Open the Spigots

The Department of Interior which controls permits for drilling on federal onshore lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is also exerting a big influence upon fracking operations.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Yet earlier this month the Interior Department released a new five-year plan that puts most of the Outer Continental Shelf off-limits for oil drilling.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: The Non-Green Jobs Boom