Ellington

Gov. Haley Barbour and three other governors have formed a coalition to advocate for offshore drilling permits, Dow Jones Newswire reported yesterday.

Barbour joined the governors of Texas, Alaska and Louisiana in forming the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition. The coalition will advocate for the U.S. Department of Interior to issue offshore drilling permits faster after the 2010 BP oil disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Interior is currently requiring oil companies to comply with a host of improved safety standards and show that they can contain blown-out deepwater wells. In March, the agency approved its first deepwater drilling permit since the oil spill.