House Approves Bill to Boost Offshore Drilling
A controversial bill to allow more offshore drilling for oil and natural gas - and pay the states that do - passed the U.S. House on Thursday with voting split largely along party lines. The vote was 232-187. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to take it up in July.
The Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act would give individual states the option of overriding the 1981 congressional offshore drilling moratorium, which bans opening new areas of the ocean to drilling. The moratorium was renewed in a bipartisan Congressional vote a few weeks ago.
The states would have one year to decide whether to permit leases for natural gas drilling from 50 to 100 miles out to sea, and three years to decide whether to allow oil drilling. The bill also would give states a share of the revenue from drilling. It would keep the moratorium in place within 50 miles of the coast.
Offshore drilling now takes place in the Pacific and off western Gulf of Mexico states. Oil advocates and environmentalists have long warred over expanding that range. That battle heated up earlier this year with pressure by the oil industry as hurricane-battered Gulf Coast state representatives sought a bigger share in federal revenue from the drilling.
Industry representatives say the need for more oil and gas is vital, and new technology makes it safe. Environmentalists say the pollution risk is too high for an economy built on tourism and fishing, and that cutting back oil and gas consumption would free up as much fuel as drilling would provide.
Methane deposits off South Carolina suggest natural gas can be found there. Generally, at least some deposit of oil is found wherever natural gas is found.
Representative Henry Brown added a provision to the bill that 30 percent of the state revenue be distributed among coastal communities within 25 miles of the coast where the drilling occurs, he said.
"That's a tremendous amount of revenue for the coast of South Carolina," he said. The coast could also expect an economic boom from manufacturers moving to the coast because of the natural gas.
The bill has the support of South Carolina's two senators, Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, and state legislative leaders said the General Assembly would consider whether to allow drilling. Gov. Mark Sanford opposes it.