Posted on 09/23/2008 3:37:38 PM PDT by Bill Dupray
Democrats to let the moratorium expire on September 30. From AP.
Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in an month-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.
Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.
"If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices," said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.
Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.
Not bad for a minority party and an unpopular president. Cheers to the Republicans who stuck to their guns and especially the president for threatening a veto of the bill extending the ban.
Chalk up one for America!
(Excerpt) Read more at patriotroom.com ...
If I’m not mistaken (probably am) but that drilling thing is for drilling over 50 miles from the coast where there is no oil ...
I thought pelosi’s over 50 mile drilling thing was inserted in funding legislation for later this month.
No, that was in the Dem bill that passed recently. This ban includes everything, which means that there is no ban and it nullifies the Dem bill, which only passed the House. If the ban expires, there no longer are any federal restrictions. Of course, this doesn’t stop the environmentalists from filing suits to block any drilling.
She dropped it out.
This will open up all offshore drilling. The Democrats just want to get home to campaign for office.
I guess the states too will chime in ....
Prediction: Oil price plunge. You heard it here first!
Yep, they will have to decide what they want to do.
Aren’t the environmentalist wackos just going to use litigation to clog up the drilling?
Hmmmm....the dems must have gotten an earful from their constituents!
Yep! It will open up years and years and years from now after the envirowacos exhaust every thinkable lawsuit. This is why the Dems ave been sticking to their "we wont see a drop of oil for 10 - 20 year" talking point! The Dems don't care if the ban expires!
I doubt this story is true!
I think the fifty mile limit is new legislation. The lapsed ban will allow drilling in whatever form was permitted before the ban took place. It’s why Pelosi’s bill never had a chance.
It looks like Pelosi et al. dropped the drilling ban from the continuing resolution. She could still add it to the “must pass” continuing resolution to fund the government on the last day before congress takes their fall break which is Sept 26th. Then she and all her congress critters could head out of town leaving the bill for the senate to pass and hand off to the president either to veto and shut down the government or not. We have just 3 more days to she if she tries to pull something like this.
As someone who just spent 45 minutes driving around looking for a gas station that had gasoline to sell, I couldn’t be happier.
It wasn’t too clear from what I read ... so all off shore drilling is OK?
So what do the states have to say about it? Kalifornistan I understand is against drilling ....
IIRC didn’t Bubba sign an EO prohibiting the rest of the world from suing enviro whackos? Couldn’t GWB sign one forbidding lawsuits against oil exploration and production?
That part I am not sure of. I do think States have some say in the drilling. I would assume that since if you wanted to drill 1 mile offshore of a beach the state would have a vested interest in the issue.
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