From the AP:
This is a tremendous victory for Republicans, and good news for the American people! For all of you who called and/or e-mailed your reps: well done!
Now, don't get too comfortable yet...this is just a temporary reprieve. If Obama wins in November, I would bet you any amount of money that he'll reinstate the executive ban on off-shore drilling, especially if a Democrat-controlled Congress re-authorizes their ban, as well. Even if McCain wins in November, the Sierra Club and other activist groups will aggressively sue to prevent every single application for new drilling.
This was a major milestone, but until a comprehensive energy production plan (that includes increased oil drilling) is signed into law, that's all it is...the battle will continue shortly.
There's my two cents.
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 a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.
House 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 issue 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.
Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.
The House is expected to act on the spending bill Wednesday. The Senate is likely to go along with the House.
House 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 issue 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.
Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.
The House is expected to act on the spending bill Wednesday. The Senate is likely to go along with the House.
This is a tremendous victory for Republicans, and good news for the American people! For all of you who called and/or e-mailed your reps: well done!
Now, don't get too comfortable yet...this is just a temporary reprieve. If Obama wins in November, I would bet you any amount of money that he'll reinstate the executive ban on off-shore drilling, especially if a Democrat-controlled Congress re-authorizes their ban, as well. Even if McCain wins in November, the Sierra Club and other activist groups will aggressively sue to prevent every single application for new drilling.
This was a major milestone, but until a comprehensive energy production plan (that includes increased oil drilling) is signed into law, that's all it is...the battle will continue shortly.
There's my two cents.
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