Posted on 07/28/2008 6:21:35 PM PDT by mdittmar
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has split the Democratic front opposed to drilling with a plan that would open new areas for exploration.
Reid’s proposal was meant to insulate Senate Democratic candidates from public anger over gas prices. Instead, it has created a divide with liberal colleagues and drawn fire from senior House Democrats.
The legislation, drafted by Reid and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), would open nearly a billion new acres off the coast of Alaska to study for drilling. It would also dramatically accelerate oil leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico.
“I am unalterably opposed to drilling,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, who cited a massive oil spill that closed nearly 100 miles of the Mississippi River last week.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) urged Reid to be “very careful about drilling off the coast of Alaska.”
Reid could also face resistance from other Democrats who oppose drilling off Alaska’s shores.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), for example, has sponsored legislation to ban drilling in the North Aleutian Basin, an area that Republicans have already opened to oil leasing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill that lawmakers should focus on the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope instead of offshore.
“There are tens of millions of barrels in the reserve. If you want oil in Alaska, drill there,” she said.
Some Democrats are irked that Senate leaders haven’t shown stronger resolve in the face of Republican attacks that attempt to blame opponents of offshore drilling for higher gas prices.
“Some people are just scared of the accusation that not leasing more acres has an impact on oil prices,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, a senior Democrat from Oregon. “It just doesn’t.”
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, echoed Pelosi.
“I don’t object to oil companies doing more drilling where they already have leases,” said Waxman.
“I don’t think any of the proposals to open more areas for oil drilling off the coast of our country makes a lot of sense, because it will be years before we see any oil from these places,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers say the Reid-Bingaman proposal seems to be gaining momentum, though these same sources questioned whether Pelosi would schedule it for a vote in the House.
The provision has attracted support from powerful liberals such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works panel.
Votes against expanded drilling would open Democrats to accusations that they had blocked efforts to lower record gas prices. Votes for Republican amendments to encourage more drilling, however, would anger environmental activists.
Before reaching the House, the proposal must pass the Senate, where it is caught in a procedural dispute.
Reid has suggested voting on his legislation and a Republican alternative in the form of amendments to a pending oil speculation bill.
Reid’s office did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Republicans are demanding votes on several amendments and have pledged to block Democrats from moving to other issues until drilling receives floor votes.
Environmental activists have panned Reid’s suggestion that more of Alaska’s waters should be studied for oil drilling.
“We truly believe drilling off the icy shores of Alaska is a bad idea,” said Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, who said that sea ice increases the chances of an accident in the Arctic. “We’ve been long and vocal opponents of offshore development in the Arctic Ocean.”
Eleanor Huffines, Alaska director for The Wilderness Society, urged Senate Democrats to forget about offshore drilling and concentrate instead on tax credits for renewable energy development and other ideas.
“We think looking for additional oil and gas leasing will do nothing to lower the price of gas,” said Huffines.
Bill Wicker, spokesman for the Energy and Natural Resources panel, said Bingaman supports tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
But he said the Reid-Bingaman proposal could significantly increase domestic oil production.
Specifically, the proposal would set up planning areas covering nearly 1 billion acres off the Alaskan coast with access to an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of oil.
The bill would also accelerate leasing by requiring the government to offer lease sales more frequently. It would also eliminate some royalty relief for Outer Continental Shelf leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
Wicker acknowledged environmentalists’ criticism that opening more territory would have little immediate impact on gas prices.
“We never presented this as going to have an immediate impact on lowering the price of gasoline,” he said.
Oh, and we aren't going to need any future oil ?????????????????
Vote for me today, and I'll screw you tomorrow !!!!!!!!!!!
(Rest of comment pre-deleted for Mod consideration).
If you like $5/gal, Thank Congress in Nov. If you want $10, Vote No Oilbama.
Pray for W and Our Troops
The same mantra they been saying for years. It really does get old.
yes!
we find a conservative billionaire to pay enviro’s to monitor and attack those enviro’s who use too much gasoline and jet fuel.
This is a gift from the gods.
This should be sent to every American, ASAP.
These a$$hats are willing to do stem cell research "for the future".
As a former resident of the Garden State, I too wish this fossil a long overdue retirement.
That he, a Senator from the worst Superfund Site State in the nation, would be worried about a small oil spill in the Mississippi is downright laughable.
What I can’t understand is how a successful businessman like him(he started Automatic Data Processing) could turn into such a left wing raving mad Communist.
And at age 84, he is running for re-election to the Senate.
And the brain dead morons in NJ will reelect this cadaverous clown while they wait on gas lines in a few months, bitching about the high price of gas.
Hence, my tagline, which was born of many frustrating years in the People’s Republic of NJ.
Florida resident, my ass.
A retirement communnity home owned by his in-laws. Crook through and through.
Proving again that he is far past senility. The spill in the Mississippi River was from a LEAKING BARGE, not an oil drilling platform.
...Reid's proposal was meant to insulate Senate Democratic candidates from public anger over gas prices. Instead, it has created a divide with liberal colleagues and drawn fire from senior House Democrats...The usual buffoonery from the Party of Treason. Pelosi's got to be the biggest a-hole ever to hold that position -- "tens of millions of barrels" in the Strategic Reserve would be burned or otherwise used in short order, and she must know that.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), for example, has sponsored legislation to ban drilling in the North Aleutian Basin, an area that Republicans have already opened to oil leasing. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill that lawmakers should focus on the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska's North Slope instead of offshore...
Democratic lawmakers say the Reid-Bingaman proposal seems to be gaining momentum, though these same sources questioned whether Pelosi would schedule it for a vote in the House. The provision has attracted support from powerful liberals such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works panel. Pelosi has balked at scheduling any drilling legislation for a regular floor vote because that would give Republicans an opportunity to force vulnerable Democratic incumbents to vote on difficult amendments...
Bill Wicker, spokesman for the Energy and Natural Resources panel, said Bingaman supports tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. But he said the Reid-Bingaman proposal could significantly increase domestic oil production. Specifically, the proposal would set up planning areas covering nearly 1 billion acres off the Alaskan coast with access to an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of oil. The bill would also accelerate leasing by requiring the government to offer lease sales more frequently. It would also eliminate some royalty relief for Outer Continental Shelf leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
The scary thing is,they are the leaders of the Senate and the House.
This dimwit would lose his head if it wasn't attached. I'm hating myself more and more each day because I have to vote for him. What a nitwit.
Nevada’s feelin’ it and Reid is probably getting an earful.
The Canadians have done it example, Hibernia - tho’ not arctic it’s huge and in “iceberg alley”.
Vegas is a ghost town and gas prices are to blame. I am sure the casino owners said drill or we will have a new Senator.
Good ole’ Harry, as dependable as Big Ben. He bitches, he moans, he promises to fight on forever, and in the end, he always caves. I suppose he could just start out trying to reach a reasonable compromise, but that’d deprive us of the drama. The real question is why any sentient creature would believe anything he says when he starts posturing.
This is my first reply here, been lurking for years, and the global warming farce has forced me to finally sign up. That they put these liberal fascists priorities ahead of tax paying everyday citizens is proof alone these clowns need to be thrown out.
1) Why don't the oil companies drill in the 48,000 acres?
2) Just where do they propose to drill and what, specifically are the known, likely and speculated reserves in each. Not just raw guesses.
3) Just HOW SOON would oil flow in these places?
I am certainly not saying that “Big Oil” is playing games but I would like these questions answered.
Another ?-
When we pump our own oil, Oil Cos. are NOT paying $146/bbl are they? Aren't they paying the cost as pumped? Wouldn't that, by definition, drop the pump price of gas?
Did Lautenberg see fit to tell anyone that the oil spill had nothing to do with drilling? Or did he think it wasn’t important to confuse the “little people” with facts?
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