Gas prices are skyrocketing. What is the story with the drilling ban being lifted?

President Obama did "technically" lift the drilling ban 5 months ago, but no new drilling has taken place. He placed conditions on new drilling permits no one has been able to meet. The drilling ban lift was all for political show. You have to actually issue drilling permits to create jobs and add new petroleum to the supply chain.

Though The White House lifted the official moratorium on drilling last October, no new permits have so far been awarded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, part of the US Interior Department. Officials are insisting that the industry must be able to clearly show that it has the capacity to contain an offshore spill before it grants any permits.

On Friday, Ken Salazar, the Interior Secretary, met in Houston with Marine Well Containment, a consortium from the oil and gas industry working on containment plans.