Drake and others unveil plan for offshore drilling
WASHINGTON
With a blast at Democratic and Republican leaders alike, a bipartisan group of lawmakers - including Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk - unveiled a plan Wednesday to open offshore areas to oil and gas production.
The coalition's proposed National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act would keep drilling rigs at least 25 miles offshore and give each state an option to extend the no-drilling zone out to 50 miles. It also would preserve a ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Supporters said the plan grew out of a month of discussions spearheaded by Reps. Neil Abercrombie, a Hawaii Democrat, and John Peterson, a Pennsylvania Republican. The two have teamed up for several years on legislation designed to increase domestic oil and gas production.
"No lobbyist, no leadership, no staff from either side" was involved in the drafting, Peterson said.
Instead, rank-and-file members cut deals such as the optional 50-mile buffer - a Drake proposal - and continued protection of the arctic refuge in a bid to craft a bill that can garner broad support, Abercrombie told reporters.
Drake said the bill includes a new set of boundaries marking each state's share of offshore areas to be leased for drilling. The boundaries are critical because each state would get a portion of the proceeds of lease sales in its area; existing boundaries are unfair to Virginia, Drake contends.
Lawmakers involved in the deal said they hope voter anger at $4-per-gallon gasoline prices and the threat of even steeper jumps in home heating costs next winter will translate into pressure on congressional leaders to embrace the plan.
But Democratic and GOP Congressional leaders and the Bush administration have shown little inclination to compromise. Democrats are pushing for more alternative energy development and curbs on market speculation they argue is driving up prices; Republicans want more drilling.
Drake's support for drilling appears likely to be a major issue in her re-election contest with Democrat Glenn Nye.
Rick Fromberg, Nye's campaign manager, released a statement arguing that Drake "talked a good Washington game about being bipartisan," but hours after unveiling the bill, she opposed a bipartisan effort on the House floor "to curb irresponsible speculation and lower the cost of gas by a dollar or more."
While offshore drilling is the centerpiece of the bipartisan plan announced Wednesday, the bill also would permit the sale of wood products from federal land for the production of fuel pellets. A federal limit on the number of new hybrid cars that can qualify for a special tax credit also would be lifted.
Supporters said the legislation would bring $2.6 trillion into the federal treasury through taxes and royalties on offshore leases. Coastal states would get 30 percent of that - $780 billion - but another $940 billion would go to a variety of conservation, environmental restoration, and carbon sequestration efforts plus energy assistance for low-income people.
Wednesday's congressional wrangling came as the Bush administration announced it will begin work on a new five-year plan for drilling along the entire Outer Continental Shelf. The current plan, which expires in 2012, is confined mostly to the Gulf of Mexico.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said a new plan could be in place by 2010 if Congress lifts the 25-year-old moratorium on other drilling.