The unofficial White House rejection of a blanket offshore drilling ban notwithstanding, some members of Congress continue to fight the battle.
The most recent salvo was fired without fanfare by eight seacoast Democrats. Titled the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism Anti-Drilling Act , H.R. 1693 would restore the permanent Congressional moratorium on drilling off the Mid- and North Atlantic coasts.
The bill was introduced by US Representative Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey and co-sponsored by Kathy Castor of Florida, James Moran of Virginia, Pete Stark of California, William Delahunt of Delaware, and Steven Rothman, Donald Payne and Albio Sires, all of New Jersey.
If these members of Congress have any pride of authorship, they certainly haven't broadcast it. None of them have issued any press releases about the bill. Each of their offices were contacted Tuesday for comment, but none had responded as of midday.
It should be noted that at a hearing last week, House Resources Chairman Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat who has considerable say over energy policy, reiterated that there won't be an effort to reinstate offshore drilling bans in the current Congress. Meanwhile, Obama administration officials have, in recent weeks, all but dismissed the notion of reinstating a widespread drilling ban offshore.
But that clearly hasn't convinced some of their Democratic counterparts in Congress -- and it clearly hasn't ended what promises to be a long and spirited debate in Washington over whether this potential energy source should or should not be off limits.
Leave a comment