Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement after the Obama administration reversed course and announced it would renew a ban on offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast through 2017.

“Energy development and job creation go hand in hand,” said Congressman Price. “The resources President Obama is locking away could help wean us off foreign oil, pay down the national debt, and create good jobs right here at home. Keeping these areas off-limits to domestic energy production will only create more demand for offshore drilling in parts of the world with far less concern for environmental impacts.”