It's nice to blame liberal democrats for off shore restriction on oil drilling, however in 1990 George Bush and a republican controlled congress sharply restricted acreage available for off shore drilling.

Mr. Bush blocked new drilling off the coasts of much of California, Florida, Washington, Oregon and New England until at least the year 2000. He also permanently blocked any drilling in a marine sanctuary he created in California and ordered a delay on new leases until 1996 for an area of Southern California where drilling is already under way.

His decision is a significant departure from the offshore leasing policies of the Reagan Administration, which tried to make the entire 1.4-million-acre outer continental shelf available to industry.

In a statement issued at the White House, Mr. Bush said the decision reflected his belief ''that the development of oil and gas on the outer continental shelf should occur in an environmentally sound manner.''

In his announcement, Mr. Bush said the sale of leases off Florida and Southern California would be put off until at least the year 2000. About 87 tracts off San Luis Obispo in Southern California will be put up for sale after 1995, but only if studies find that they will not harm the environment or local economies.

The President also said he was creating a national marine sanctuary in central California's Monterey Bay that would be permanently off limits to drilling or other development.

In a surprise, the President also announced he is cancelling lease sales on the Georges Bank off New England and off the coasts of Oregon and Washington.

Oil industry officials said the President's decision would substantially reduce the total amount of oil that would be taken from the outer continental shelf at least until well into the next century. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group of major oil companies, estimated that as a result of the policy the country will lose about two million barrels of oil a day, about a fourth of current domestic production.

In a statement made public today, the institute complained: ''These decisions on offshore oil and natural gas leasing are harmful to our country and economy. They will lead to decreased domestic production, more imports , more dependency on OPEC, more tanker traffic, and the export of jobs and investment overseas.''