Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG’s environmental work.
The Senate voted
44 to 43 early this evening to strike down an amendment proposed by Senator John
Warner, (VA) to the energy bill now being debated in the Senate that would
have allowed drilling for natural gas as close as 50 miles off the coast of
Virginia, off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and off Assateague Island
National Seashore and wildlife areas. This would have ended a 26 year-old bipartisan moratorium on new areas of offshore drilling.
Senator Warner pushed for natural gas drilling, but “gas
only” production is a myth. The Minerals Management Agency (MMS), the government
agency in charge of selling offshore development leases, cannot distinguish
between oil and gas when issuing drilling permits.
How many times do we have to kill these OCS amendments
before the oil companies and their allies in Congress realize that the vast
majority of the American people want a new and different direction for energy
policy? The American public is tired of the old drill and then drill some more
solution to our energy problems. They want forward thinking proposals on energy
conservation, electricity and liquid fuels from renewable sources, and better
gas mileage. Senator Warner’s amendment did none of these things.
Last week the House Appropriations Committee
overwhelmingly voted to preserve the moratorium and killed a similar attempt to
weaken it. We’re pleased that the House and Senate are holding the line on the
offshore drilling moratorium.
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U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest
Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest
advocacy organizations.
