President Obama has announced plans to open large areas of America's offshore waters to oil and gas extraction. He is ending a long-standing ban on drilling along the Atlantic coast in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and also Alaska. The move is expected to please the energy industry but environmentalists have been critical.<br/><br/>President Obama said it was part of a broader strategy for energy security moving from dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil to reliance on home grown fuels.<br/><br/>The president also placed drilling in the context of a broader commitment to renewable energy, which he says will create or save 700,000 jobs.