Yer killin me:
Posted on 06/20/2006 5:05:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, wants California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's support for legislation that would allow states to approve oil and gas drilling off their coasts something now blocked by federal bans.
Pombo released a letter to Schwarzenegger on Tuesday asking him to back a bill that would replace existing federal moratoria on offshore drilling with a federal ban states could opt out of. The House Resources Committee, which Pombo chairs, is scheduled to vote on the legislation Wednesday.
Pombo promotes the idea as a way to let states like California that oppose offshore drilling control their own coasts, while other states, like Louisiana, could tap a valuable energy resource that could benefit the whole nation.
"Imminent energy crises have placed our economy and American family-wage jobs at great risk, while one of the keys to easing this burden America's massive ocean energy resources remain locked away under government regulation," his letter said.
Environmentalists oppose the plan, saying federal moratoria are the only surefire insurance against coastal drilling and contending that decisions driven by revenue-hungry state legislatures could lead to more drilling and possibly spills that would pollute even non-drilling states.
Schwarzenegger hasn't seen Pombo's letter or the legislation, but opposes any new offshore drilling "and has consistently opposed congressional attempts to weaken the current federal protections for the California coast," said spokesman Darrel Ng.
The governor "has made his opposition to offshore oil drilling clear to both Congress and the president and will continue to do so in the future," Ng said.
Although Pombo and Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, have cooperated on issues including seeking more money for Sacramento levee repairs, the conservative House member and the moderate governor disagree on many environmental issues. Pombo's election-year challenge to Schwarzenegger on offshore drilling strongly opposed by a majority of California voters is not likely to change that.
But in Washington there has been growing interest in lifting the federal offshore drilling restrictions, which have been in place for 25 years. Most of the offshore waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico are under a drilling moratorium.
The current moratorium is subject to annual congressional approval. A separate presidential moratorium expires in 2012 unless it is renewed. Those bans affect federal areas that start three miles offshore and typically stretch out 200 miles.
The bill before Pombo's committee would replace those bans with a permanent ban for the first 50 miles offshore that states could opt out of.
For 50-100 miles offshore, states could "opt in" to the ban state legislatures would be allowed to vote to prohibit drilling, and would have to renew the prohibitions every five years.
For waters beyond 100 miles there would be no ban, but Pombo says that drilling beyond 100 miles off the shores of California is not possible because of how deep the Pacific is, so that his plan would amount to a permanent offshore drilling ban for California.
Last month the House by a 217-203 vote rejected opening coastal waters to natural gas drilling. Even if the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act gets through Pombo's committee Wednesday and passes the full House it would face a fight in the Senate.
If gas went to 1000 bucks a gallon, it wouldn't affect Arnold, so forget it.
Living at the beach in Southern California, I don't buy that propaganda. I rarely meet anyone opposed to offshore drilling. Modern techniques make drilling safe and many rigs would not even be visible from shore. On most days I can see two platforms and they are not unpleasant.
I doubt that there is 2% of the population that lives in CA that were in So. Cslif. and went to the beach over 50 years ago when there wasn't a beach in So Calif. that wasn't fouled with oil and tar from natural seepage.
The only reason that they aren't today is the oil drilling from the platforms that exist relieved the gas pressure that was pushing thousands of gallons of oil up every day.
Now, before I make my remarks I just wanted to say something about something that is very important to me, and something that concerns me and something that is concerning the people of California. And that is that yesterday the Washington politicians have voted on lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling off the coast of California. And I think this is totally unacceptable and it is irresponsible.And I can tell you that as Governor of California I will do everything in my power to make sure that we will not have any additional offshore drilling off the coast of California. Because I think it is very important to protect the environment. Because we can do both, protect the environment and protect our economy at the same time . And we have proven that in the last two years. So we are going to fight for that. So, thank you for listening to that. Now I want to go back to my remarks.
something something something..
vintage aRnold ;-)
Yer killin me:
Just tryin' to do my part. It appears the information minister is understaffed this week.
Can't allow that. As some here would say, the big eeevil oil companies would make toooo much money. Therefore it's a good thing that the government will not allow drilling. And, don't forget, ethanol is the panacea to energy independence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.