open up millions of additional acres of u.s. waters to oil and natural gas drilling. on the east coast it includes the northern tip of delaware to the central coast of florida. to the south, the eastern tract of the gulf of mexico and the northern coast of alaska will also be open for drilling. but the new plan also includes a new ban on drilling in the environmentally sensitive bristol bay area of alaska. let s bring in cnbc s chief washington correspondent, john harwood. we re already hearing from republicans. they don t like this plan. why? reporter: well, they re saying it doesn t go far enough. you know, the 125-mile buffer that the president proposes for the west coast of florida out into the gulf of mexico takes too much potential exploration area off the table. but i think the president can be fairly confident that he hit a sweet spot today. because he s got environmentalists a little wild. that shows he s going after his base. he s got the house republicans complaining, whic