U.S. House passes bill to open Va. coast for drilling

After sparring lawmakers offered starkly different visions of how drilling for oil and gas off Virginia's coast might affect gas prices, the Chesapeake Bay's health and the national economy, the U.S. House approved a bill Thursday that would require the Obama administration to reopen lease sales in the region for offshore drilling.

The measure, which passed 266-149 and now goes to the Senate, would require the Obama administration to end the offshore moratorium it imposed last year in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico. The administration has said it would lift the moratorium only after new environmental impact statements are prepared and the industry adopts certain safety measures.

If the House bill became law, leases for new wells in parts of the Gulf would have to be auctioned in four to eight months, and leases for an area off Virginia's shores would be auctioned within a year.

Noting the consumer outrage over the recent spike in gasoline prices, several Republicans argued that expanding domestic oil production would lower fuel costs.

"It will send a strong signal to the world markets that the U.S. is serious about producing its own resources," said U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, a Washington state Republican and the bill's sponsor.

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, a bill co-sponsor, said it would be "a tremendous step for the people of Virginia and for America. I hear about gas prices and the job market everywhere I go. This bill moves the needle on both of those."

But opponents, most of whom were Democrats, said it's a false promise to say that drilling for oil in future years would affect what consumers have been paying in recent months.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Republicans were pushing an energy agenda that benefited multinational oil companies without providing relief for American motorists. The five biggest oil companies reported more than $35 billion in profits in the first quarter of the year.

"Republicans have brought to the floor another 'drill only' bill that would not bring down prices at the pump," Pelosi said. "It's a boon to Big Oil that would make another catastrophic oil spill more likely."

U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, said the environmental risks for the Chesapeake Bay, which he called "the soul of my state," would be too great if offshore drilling were allowed.

Energy production has some risk, acknowledged another bill co-sponsor, U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland County, but offshore drilling "can be conducted in a safe and responsible manner."

As the House debated, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell also lent his support, but from far away.

Standing at a podium in front of a Henrico County gas station 100 miles south of the U.S. Capitol, McDonnell restated his view that offshore drilling could create jobs.

"One thing we know that we can do something about is reducing dependence on foreign sources of oil," he said. "I believe, at the federal level right now, we have a weak, if not incoherent, national energy policy."

Virginia's senators, both Democrats, have voiced support for offshore drilling as part of a broader national energy policy, but with some conditions.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner "supports development of offshore energy resources sooner rather than later, but he believes it should be done responsibly, incorporating lessons learned from the Gulf spill and being conducted in a way that does not disrupt military activities that are conducted off the Virginia coast," said Kevin Hall, Warner's spokesman.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb said last month that developing more offshore oil production should be a priority, but he wants federal officials to revise lease maps to give Virginia a larger share of future oil sources and also develop an "equitable formula" for the state to share offshore revenues with the federal government.

Pilot writer Julian Walker and The New York Times contributed to this report.

Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com