In '86, the price collapsed, and it is likely some of those projects would have not been completed or downsized due to the economics of the situation.
That said, Daddy Bush did a few things I didn't like. By '86 Neil had problems of his own...in the Savings and Loan biz (Silverado). I also recall that was when I started voting for leser (but noticeably) evils, which has led us to the mess we have today.
Correction: GWHBush did not become President until 1989. He could not have signed any orders before that date.
Per Sierra Club, “During 1990, a yearlong study by the National Research Council (NRC) of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences found that insufficient scientific data existed to enable offshore drilling to proceed within the annual congressional OCS Moratorium areas while ensuring that the environment would be protected. Having commissioned this scientific study by the NRC, former President George Bush, Sr., became known as the “Environmental President” in 1991 when he issued his Executive OCS Deferrals, declaring that the existing Moratorium waters, with the exception of Bristol Bay in Alaska, would not be offered for new offshore oil and gas leasing until at least 2002.
GHWBush proudly became our first Green President embracing the enviromental wackos and appointing the nutcase Souter to the Supreme Court at about the same time. In 1998, Clinton extended the moratorium until 2012 and GWB has refused to modify that executive order.