a bitter drill
from Grist:
The House voted yesterday to end the 25-year-old ban on oil and gas
drilling off most of the U.S. coast. The highly contentious debate
broke down more along geographic lines than partisan ones, as states
standing to make money from the drilling largely supported it. Under
the bill, drilling would be allowed beyond 50 miles off the coast;
states could vote to extend protection to 100 miles, but they would
have to pass legislation on it again every five years. The most
controversial part of the bill was a plan to reroute, over time, up to
75 percent of the drilling royalties to states rather than the feds.
This bribery was necessary to get coastal states behind the bill, but
it stands to leech $20 billion from the federal treasury over the next
10 years. "We should not be opening all of our coasts to oil drilling
when we have not taken the first step to conserve oil," said Rep.
Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), who added that the bill "pretty much
defines 'travesty.'" Florida's two senators have vowed to filibuster
the bill if it reaches the Senate floor.
sources:
CNN.com
The Washington Post
San Francisco Chronicle
An interview with Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a GOP green leader
