but as stephanie dhue reports, it still stirred up lots of criticism from lawmakers and environmentalists. >> reporter: in a speech at andrews airforce base, president obama called his proposal to open up offshore drilling both a national security and an economic issue. >> given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy. >> reporter: the president would open up the gulf of mexico and end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the east coast from delaware to florida. alaska's north slope would also be opened, but the proposal keeps drilling off-limits in that state's bristol bay. the oil industry says developing offshore resources could help generate more than a trillion dollars in revenues. shell oil launched production from the perdido development, deep in the gulf of mexico, today. company president marvin odum says opening up new areas is a big step forward. >> the eastern gu

as stephanie dhue reports, the national highway transportation safety administration, or n.h.t.s.a.,will be a key player as the third round of hearings on toyota begin tomorrow on capitol hill. >> reporter: during last week's back to back hearings into the toyota recalls, transportation secretary ray lahood portrayed nhtsa as a heavyweight not afraid to use its muscle to protect the public. >> we have been very aggressive, and if we need to use subpoena power we'll use it, but we have lots of enforcement mechanisms, and i would stipulate, on my watch we've been a lapdog for nobody. >> reporter: but when toyota filed paperwork disclosing the sticky pedal problem, nhtsa allowed the company to skip calling it a safety defect. that move narrowed the scope of nhtsa's investigation. and toyota bragged the smaller probe saved $100 million. that's lead critics to say nhtsa relies too heavily on the automakers it regulates. former nhtsa administrator joan claybrook says its easy for manufacturers to stonewall the agency. >> if they hear about a safety defect, they don't know much about it. th