RICHMOND Sen. Jim Webb is calling on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to consider legislation opening waters off Virginia to oil and gas exploration.

An aide said the Virginia Democrat's appeal has been heeded and will be offered as an amendment to a Senate bill on Thursday.

WASHINGTON
U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner introduced legislation Wednesday that would speed up the timetable for natural gas and oil exploration off Virginia's coast and expand the state's share of offshore territory.

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 Obama administration announced Wednesday that it will not allow any drilling for oil and gas off the Virginia coast until at least 2017, a move rooted in the record oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.

VIRGINIA BEACH Environmental activists angry about the Gulf of Mexico disaster are mobilizing to keep oil rigs off of Virginia's coast and to push for renewable energy.

The Sierra Club, Oceana and other organizers are heading to the coast on June 26 for "Hands Across the Sand" — a human line in the sand against drilling. A similar event was held on Florida beaches.

Responding to the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama canceled plans Thursday for oil drilling off the Virginia coast, further thwarting a key policy goal of Gov. Bob McDonnell.

WASHINGTON The head of the troubled agency that oversees offshore drilling resigned under pressure Thursday as President Barack Obama moved more aggressively to take charge of the Gulf oil spill.

Drilling for oil and natural gas off the Virginia coast has been touted as a potential economic boon for the state and Hampton Roads that would create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in investment in the region.

AP Correction: In an earlier version of this story about offshore drilling, The Associated Press reported erroneously that President Barack Obama lifted a ban on offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean in March. President George W.

By Jason Dearen and Jeffrey Collins

HAMMOND, Louisiana

In a major step toward containing a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a mile-long (1.6-kilometer-long) tube was funneling crude Sunday from a blown well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stopgap measure into place on the seafloor.