A series of hearings on plans to open New England and most of the nation's coastline to offshore drilling will be postponed because of the U.S. government shutdown.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is rescheduling this week’s meetings in Maine, New Hampshire, Boston and Providence while some of its funding is suspended and employees are furloughed. The hearing in Hartford, Connecticut, is still set for February.
The Interior Department will use the meetings to get feedback on whether to offer new drilling opportunities off both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. Many governors and senators in the Northeast oppose the plan, while Maine Gov. Paul LePage has expressed support for it.
The bureau says there have never been commercial discoveries or leases in the North Atlantic. It estimates the area holds 3 percent of the nation's economically viable oil and gas reserves.
NHPR's Annie Ropeik reports this story for the New England News Collaborative.