Hoyer: No Plans to Reinstall Offshore Drilling Moratorium
For environmentalists hoping that the new Democratic margins in Congress might lead to the return of a decades-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling -- you
Jul 31, 2020689.6K Shares13.5M Views
For environmentalists hoping that the new Democratic margins in Congress might lead to the return of a decades-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling — you might not want to hold your breath.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that Democrats have no plans to reinstate the drilling ban, which Congress let expireat the end of September amid a charged partisan debateover sky-high gas prices. Instead, Hoyer said party leaders will probably search for ways “to delineate” the vast swaths of ocean now available for drilling.
“At this point in time, no one is suggesting that we return to the same position we were in [before the ban expired],” Hoyer said. “We’re going to be looking at parameters, not necessarily reinstatement of the [moratorium].”
President-elect Barack Obama could also reinstate a (separate-but-equal) White House ban, which President George W. Bush repealedover the summer. Obama, however, has welcomed expanded offshore drillingas part of a comprehensive energy reform package. He’s given no indication that he would reinstall the presidential ban next year.
Meanwhile, fuel prices have nosedived since the drilling debate peaked in August, leaving oil companies with much less incentive to expand their expensive deep-sea drilling operations. If prices stay low, environmentalists can probably sleep well, even if the ban isn’t reinsated.
Hajra Shannon
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