Offshore Drilling Bill Advances in Senate - Good for America, good for the fish and good for fishermen/Spearos

Offshore Drilling Bill Advances in Senate

By H. JOSEF HEBERT | Associated Press Writer
Posted July 26, 2006, 11:16 AM EDT
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...home-headlines

WASHINGTON -- The Senate began work Wednesday on an election-year bill that
would open a large area of the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas
drilling, but would fall far short of a broader offshore energy development
measure already approved by the House.

By a vote of 86-12 the Senate agreed to proceed with the legislation that
opponents fear could open the way to lifting a federal drilling moratorium
that has protected 85 percent of the country's Outer Continental Shelf from
New England to Alaska for a quarter century.


It directs the Interior Department to begin offering oil and gas leases for
waters known as Lease Area 181, which lies 125 miles to 230 miles off
Florida's coast. The bill would guarantee that much of Florida's Gulf coast
would be protected from drilling until 2022.

Covering 8.3 million acres, the Lease Area 181 and an adjacent area together
covers 8.3 million acres and is believed to contain 1.3 billion barrels of
oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to heat 6 million
homes for 15 years. The area has been off limits to development largely
because of concerns from Florida that drilling could jeopardize its beaches
and lucrative tourist industry.

Despite the wide margin on what was viewed as largely a procedural vote
Wednesday, the bill's supporters said passage will be difficult. Senate GOP
leaders were trying to limit any changes in the compromise legislation,
fearing that might jeopardize passage.

Already, the legislation is likely to attract a filibuster from opponents.
No final vote was likely before Monday as the Senate moves toward its summer
recess next week .

"It's clear that anything that changes this very much won't pass the
Senate," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the bill's chief sponsor and floor
leader, told reporters.

Some opponents of the legislation fear it's a first step to lifting a
moratorium that for decades has prohibited drilling in 85 percent of the
country's coastal waters from New England to Alaska. Others object to
changes in revenue sharing in the legislation that would sharply increase
money funneled to four Gulf states -- Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and
Texas -- that already have offshore energy development.

A month ago, the House passed a much broader offshore energy development
bill that would lift the ban on oil and gas drilling that has been in effect
for 25 years in most waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico. That bill
would still bar drilling within 50 miles of the shoreline, but it would open
waters beyond that to energy companies unless a state specifically acts to
protect waters within 100 miles of shore.

Senate Republican leaders said they didn't have enough votes to push such a
broad measure through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., said Tuesday that if the bill passes he would work to keep it
focused and limited to the 8.3 million acres in negotiations with the House.

That may be hard to do.

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., a key sponsor of the House bill passed last
month, said Tuesday he saw no way the House would accept the limited Senate
legislation as a substitute for its bill.

Another key player on energy issues in the House, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas,
said Wednesday he looked forward the Senate passing its bill and to
negotiations to resolve differences, but added: "We would certainly
encourage (the Senate) to go broader" beyond the central Gulf.

Domenici argued that the additional oil and gas found in Lease Area 181
could "bring enough oil and gas to market to ease supply constraints and
stabilize energy prices." He has said the offshore drilling measure is
likely to be the only energy legislation that has a chance to emerge from
Congress this year.

But the bill has its own political pitfalls. Senators from many coastal
states worry about potential oil spills that could harm beaches and
jeopardize tourist industries.

Several senators said they want to include a guarantee that the
long-standing moratorium remain in place along the Pacific and Atlantic
coasts until 2022. It is now approved by Congress annually. The bill gives
such assurance for Florida's Gulf waters.

The legislation funnels tens of millions of additional dollars in royalties
to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that already have drilling rigs
off their coasts. These states would get 37.5 percent of future royalties
from oil or gas taken from federally controlled waters, compared with less
than 2 percent today.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., opposes the measure largely because, he said,
"over the next 60 years this entitlement to the Gulf Coast states would have
a total value of at least $170 billion."

The administration also has objected to the revenue changes. Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday he is pleased with "the general
direction" of the bill, but that the administration still has concern about
the revenue sharing changes.
--
CB
What put's Algore in his lockbox?
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