Democrats to let offshore drilling ban expire. GOP gloats

[chill_wind]

Democrats to let offshore drilling ban expire

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - 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.

the rest: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_go_co/offshore_drilling

[villager]

1. Well, I agree with the Boner that it *is* a "capitulation," but there my agreement ends.

n/t

[chill_wind]

2. True, that. n/t

[VP505]

3. " Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices"

Sure it is Boner, I am sure I can expect 89¢ a gallon gas just in time for Christmas too. Why the hell do the Dem's give them THAT talking point 40 days before the election?

[sandnsea]

4. Just wait until nobody wants to drill n/t

[Winterblues]

5. I thought Congress just passed an off shore drilling bill

As far as I know it has not yet been vetoed. I was under the impression that this drilling bill would stop the lifting of the ban.

[chill_wind]

6. More today-- LA Times

Offshore drilling ban will expire — for now


By Richard Simon

Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON — A long-standing congressional ban on new offshore oil drilling will expire in seven days, with Democratic leaders conceding Tuesday they stand no chance of renewing it this year over President Bush's opposition and in a year where gasoline prices have become a campaign issue.

By lapsing, the issue will gain greater prominence in the presidential election because it will be up to the next president and Congress to decide whether to renew all or part of the ban, first imposed in 1981 to put much of the California coast off-limits to new rigs and expanded to much of the rest of the U.S. coast in 1985.

full text: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008199057_drill24.html

[Johonny]

7. I buy into the Dems line of talk that this is calling the rethugs bluf

Since there is very likely no new drilling is going to take place before the election.

[alfredo]

8. All those RNC ads about Dems preventing "energy independence" are now

useless.

[chill_wind]

9. Update: House bill has passed 370-58.

I agree-- drilling ban lapse does not mean drilling itself well be imminent. It takes the issue away from the Pubs for now. And the fight is not over.


"Lifting the offshore ban does not itself mean drilling in the offshore waters is imminent. But it could set the stage for the Interior Department to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011 under its current five-year offshore drilling plan.

Democratic leaders made clear the battle over offshore drilling is far from over."


House votes to end offshore drilling ban

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The House, responding to growing public demand for more domestic energy, voted Wednesday to end a quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, giving Republicans a major victory on energy policy.

An extension of the ban for another year was left off a $630 billion-plus stopgap government spending bill that President Bush had threatened to veto — possibly shutting down the government — if the anti-drilling measure were included.

The bill was approved 370-58 and now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved within the next few days, also without the drilling ban.

The decision to avoid a fight with the White House over offshore drilling marks a major shift by Democrats on energy policy and a reflection that the GOP argument for more domestic energy production had found a support among voters this election year, even though coastal states long have worried that offshore drilling might cause spills, soil beaches and threaten their tourist businesses.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_go_co/offshore_drilling