House Adopts Plan To Ease Offshore Drilling Ban, 09/17/08

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi

New legislation proposed and approved by a House vote of 236-189 is aimed at easing long-standing bans on offshore drilling while at the same time promoting development of alternative energy technology. According to the legislation, which has yet to be passed into law, oil companies would lose some tax benefits, utilities would be required to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and a ban on developing fuel from Rocky Mountain shale would be lifted. “We are opening up to 400 million acres off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling and expanding the availability of oil by at least 2 billion barrels,” said Representative Nick J. Rahall II, the West Virginia Democrat who leads the Natural Resources Committee. “And we have done so in a balanced, reasonable and responsible manner.” The proposal also creates a policy shift for the Democratic party who have sharply opposed offshore drilling since imposing a ban in 1982. The legislation has met with sharp criticism from oppponents who view the proposal as a mere political gimmick aimed at voters who are frustrated by sky-rocketing gas prices. Some critics claim that the proposal is a sham and the Democrats are only willing to consider lifting an offshore drilling ban because they're sure it will not be passed into law. Whether or not this proposal will be passed into law is yet to be seen, but if it does, the United States could tap some large, domestic oil reserves while developing renewable energy initiatives.

See the article here. -V