The premise of this thread is that Obama announced plans to open coastal areas that have been protected for decades to oil and gas drilling. This would doubtless be in BP's interest, don't you think?

He did so just a couple of weeks before the current Gulf disaster unfolded demonstrating exactly why that is a bad idea. Heck, even the Goobernator of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, just went public saying that the oil isn't worth the risk.