Bush lifts offshore drilling ban in symbolic move

If both the presidential and congressional bans were lifted, it would then be up to individual states to permit drilling off their shores, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist has expressed support for drilling while California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reiterated his opposition.

Perino said the president initially wanted to move in concert with Congress but decided to go ahead alone after being rebuffed by Democratic leaders and because of a relentless upward rise in energy prices.

"There's a lot of things that would need to be worked out," she said. "And both the legislative ban and congressional ban need to be lifted in order for us to move forward to try to develop more sources here in our own country."

Environmentalists said more drilling would not end U.S. dependence on oil or cut gasoline prices.

"Calls for more drilling will only increase the already record profits of big oil and will do little to reduce the costs of gas at the pump," said Larry Schweiger president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation.

The presidential offshore drilling ban was instituted in 1990, was later extended by President Bill Clinton and was set to expire in June 2012. Most offshore drilling is allowed in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but not Florida.

"The president cruelly is misleading Americans for attempted political gain," said Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. "He knows ruining our coastlines won't bring down gasoline prices nor solve our energy challenges."

(Additional reporting by Deborah Zabarenko and Thomas Ferraro in Washington, DC and Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by David Wiessler)