By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON—The House voted Tuesday to allow oil companies to drill for oil and natural gas off the coast of North Carolina and other Atlantic states.
The proposed alteration of the longstanding ban on offshore drilling – part of a larger energy package that passed 236-189 – now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
The change would give oil companies access to petroleum deposits located more than 100 miles off the Atlantic coast, while maintaining a ban on drilling within 50 miles of the shoreline.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia would also have the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles of their coastline.
Tuesday’s vote saw Democrats and Republicans reverse the roles the two parties have played in this year’s energy debate.
For months, Republicans have pushed for an expansion of offshore drilling over the objections of Democrats. But on Tuesday, most Democrats voted for the energy package that contained the drilling expansion while most Republicans voted against it.
Most Atlantic Coast Democrats who voted for the bill said they actually remain opposed to offshore drilling. They argue that it would do nothing to bring down gas prices in the near term – a view supported by most energy analysts and the Bush Administration’s Energy Department – while extending the country’s dependence on oil.
But polls show that most Americans favor a drilling expansion. And Democrats saw the measure both as politically wise and as a compromise key to passage of other energy provisions in the package, such as funding for alternative energy research and the elimination of tax breaks for oil companies.
“There will always be things you don’t like in any bill, including offshore drilling, but there are lots of things I do like – incentives alternative energy technology and research. It’s the definition of a comprehensive package,” said Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., who voted for the bill.
Moreover, Democrats said they had to pass something to address the expiration of the decades-old drilling moratorium at the end of the month.
Unless it is extended or revised, the federal government could let oil companies drill within a few miles of the Atlantic shore – without state approval.
“Oil exploration could begin within sight of the beaches of North Carolina,” said Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., who voted for the energy package. “North Carolina would gain little from the drilling and could easily lose our tourism industry if there was a spill.”
Republicans voted overwhelmingly against the bill, largely, they said, because the drilling provision did not go far enough.
“It’s a sham and a hoax,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who voted against the bill.
The Interior Department estimates that 3.5 billion barrels of oil could be pumped from beneath the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. About 700 million of those barrels sit under the 50-mile zone that would remain off limits under the legislation that passed Tuesday.
The United States uses about 21 million barrels of oil per day.
If all the Atlantic states agreed to allow drilling and government estimates prove accurate, the new drilling would by itself meet the country’s oil needs for four and a half months. Opening the first 50 miles off the Atlantic coast would supply an additional month.
It could be decades before that oil reaches consumers. A 2007 report by the federal Energy Information Administration concluded that opening the Atlantic shelf to new drilling would “not have a significant impact” on oil production until 2030. And even then, the impact on prices is “expected to be insignificant,” the report concluded.
Republicans are dubious that North Carolina and other states will allow exploration within the zone between 50 and 100 miles. That’s because the legislation does not provide states a cut of the money oil companies will pay the federal government to lease a drilling site.
Foxx pointed out that Gulf Coast states like Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi get a cut of federal revenue from oil drilled off their coasts.
“This doesn’t allow North Carolina to receive revenue. If the state’s going to opt in, there needs to be a reason to opt in,” she said.
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.
The proposed alteration of the longstanding ban on offshore drilling – part of a larger energy package that passed 236-189 – now heads to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
The change would give oil companies access to petroleum deposits located more than 100 miles off the Atlantic coast, while maintaining a ban on drilling within 50 miles of the shoreline.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia would also have the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles of their coastline.
Tuesday’s vote saw Democrats and Republicans reverse the roles the two parties have played in this year’s energy debate.
For months, Republicans have pushed for an expansion of offshore drilling over the objections of Democrats. But on Tuesday, most Democrats voted for the energy package that contained the drilling expansion while most Republicans voted against it.
Most Atlantic Coast Democrats who voted for the bill said they actually remain opposed to offshore drilling. They argue that it would do nothing to bring down gas prices in the near term – a view supported by most energy analysts and the Bush Administration’s Energy Department – while extending the country’s dependence on oil.
But polls show that most Americans favor a drilling expansion. And Democrats saw the measure both as politically wise and as a compromise key to passage of other energy provisions in the package, such as funding for alternative energy research and the elimination of tax breaks for oil companies.
“There will always be things you don’t like in any bill, including offshore drilling, but there are lots of things I do like – incentives alternative energy technology and research. It’s the definition of a comprehensive package,” said Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., who voted for the bill.
Moreover, Democrats said they had to pass something to address the expiration of the decades-old drilling moratorium at the end of the month.
Unless it is extended or revised, the federal government could let oil companies drill within a few miles of the Atlantic shore – without state approval.
“Oil exploration could begin within sight of the beaches of North Carolina,” said Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., who voted for the energy package. “North Carolina would gain little from the drilling and could easily lose our tourism industry if there was a spill.”
Republicans voted overwhelmingly against the bill, largely, they said, because the drilling provision did not go far enough.
“It’s a sham and a hoax,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who voted against the bill.
The Interior Department estimates that 3.5 billion barrels of oil could be pumped from beneath the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. About 700 million of those barrels sit under the 50-mile zone that would remain off limits under the legislation that passed Tuesday.
The United States uses about 21 million barrels of oil per day.
If all the Atlantic states agreed to allow drilling and government estimates prove accurate, the new drilling would by itself meet the country’s oil needs for four and a half months. Opening the first 50 miles off the Atlantic coast would supply an additional month.
It could be decades before that oil reaches consumers. A 2007 report by the federal Energy Information Administration concluded that opening the Atlantic shelf to new drilling would “not have a significant impact” on oil production until 2030. And even then, the impact on prices is “expected to be insignificant,” the report concluded.
Republicans are dubious that North Carolina and other states will allow exploration within the zone between 50 and 100 miles. That’s because the legislation does not provide states a cut of the money oil companies will pay the federal government to lease a drilling site.
Foxx pointed out that Gulf Coast states like Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi get a cut of federal revenue from oil drilled off their coasts.
“This doesn’t allow North Carolina to receive revenue. If the state’s going to opt in, there needs to be a reason to opt in,” she said.
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.