WASHINGTON
The Senate on Thursday upheld a long-standing moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration off the Virginia coast, rejecting legislation that could have triggered a new effort to permit drilling.
With oil priced at about $110 a barrel and gasoline selling for $3.25 a gallon, drilling proponents led by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., hoped to round up new supporters for offshore exploration.
"The supply of oil and natural gas is important if we want to bring down the price," Alexander said just before the vote.
But a coalition of environmental- and tourism-minded senators stood firm for the moratorium, which has been in place for a quarter-century. Alexander's proposal would not immediately lift the drilling ban, suggested Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., but would be "the camel's nose under the tent."
The vote "shows all the coastal champions are still fighting strong," said Sierra Club staff member Karen Murphy. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups contend that drilling could trigger oil spills that would foul beaches and endanger marine life.
The vote broke largely along party lines, with Republicans generally supporting an end to the moratorium and Democrats voting to retain it. Virginia's two senators, Republican John Warner and Democrat Jim Webb, followed their respective parties' positions.
The Senate debate on drilling came in the midst of a marathon session and a series of votes on the federal budget for 2009. Alexander unveiled his proposal Wednesday as a budget amendment and rewrote it by hand on the floor Thursday. While copies were distributed to other senators before the vote, they were not immediately available to reporters or the public, and even Alexander's staff could not provide the final wording.
Republicans last made a major effort to repeal the offshore drilling ban in 2006, but with the election of a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress that November, the moratorium was not seriously challenged last year.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the General Assembly have urged a federal study of the extent of natural gas deposits at least 50 miles offshore. Last year, Kaine blocked a legislative attempt in Richmond to put the state on record in support of lifting the federal moratorium.
An attempt by Warner last July to secure congressional permission for gas drilling off Virginia also fell well short.
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
But you will continue to whine about gas prices
Have you ever wondered why the cost of goods and services has significantly increased over the past couple of years? Fanantic environmental groups, their lobbyists and Democrats will not be happy until this economy has completely collapsed and everyone is living on a commune and drawing an entitlement check. Have you ever wondered why our fellow countrymen and women are dying in the Middle East? Have there been any environmental disasters in the Gulf or the north Atlantic in the past twenty years? What kind of eyesight do you have? Will you be able to see an oil rig that is located fifty miles offshores standing on the oceanfront in Virginia Beach?
"Short sightdness
The only shortsightedness is on the part of the Democrats who still don't seem to understand the concept of supply and demand. More supply
helps prices decrease.
China is drilling off-short, Cuba is drilling off-short, even mexico, just last year found one of the largest deposits of oil...offshore.
The Unites States is the only country NOT exploring for new sources of energy off-shore. The united states is the only country NOT investing in new refineries because of democrats and environmentalist. They are also stuck in a 1950's mentality about explortion, as though it consists of people with shovels and drills just digging. Technology has changed dramatically and its never been more safer and environmentally friendly.
Wind and solar power will never power our industrial economy. Those who think so are delusional. They are the same people who thought the caribu would start to demise in Prudoh Bay, when in fact, they have prospered and use the oil pipeline for warmth.
Sandbridge/Outer Banks again safe
With the election in November likely to gain even more DEMS in the Senate (let's hope the magic 60 in case McCain pulls the upset) it would appear offshore drilling will be a dead issue for years to come.
Once again you may thank the Democrats who have saved us all from greedy Republican short-sightedness.
Gentlemen, start your flaming!