According to the Institute for Energy Research, the Congressional ban on off-shore oil development dies a natural death on Sept. 30, 2008 … unless new legislation extends it.
I’m skeptical since the eagle-eyed press hasn’t reported this, but if it’s true that the ban ends without Congressional action, every single member of Congress will have to go on record either for or against offshore drilling — right before their elections.
Things could get very interesting.
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From the IER web site:
“American oil and gas leasing has been prohibited on most of the OCS since the 1982. Today, 97 percent of America’s offshore OCS lands are not leased for energy exploration or production. The U.S. is now the only developed nation in the World that restricts access to its offshore energy resources.
The were two federal bans that kept the U.S. from producing its vast offshore energy resources: an executive ban and a legislative ban. Neither have the force of permanent law.
On July 14, 2008 President George W. Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling, leaving only the Congressional ban.
The Congressional Moratorium comes in the form of an annual appropriations rider in Congress. It must be renewed annually by a vote in the Congress, which has enacted OCS leasing moratoria every year since 1981.
Unless Congress approves a new rider – and the President signs into law a bill that includes the rider – the Congressional ban will expire on September 30, the end of the federal FY2008 fiscal year.”
Worth exploring:
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/cleaning-up-the-environment-one-more-reason-to-develop-the-outer-continental-shelf/
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