"Drill, Baby, Drill?" (9/19)
“Drill, Baby, Drill”?
After getting nowhere on energy legislation in July, Congress is trying again. But this time, the tone has changed.
A summer of four dollar a gallon gas, election season politics, and perceived shifts in public opinion have led many more members of Congress from both parties to call for some increase domestic drilling. FCNL opposes proposals to expand offshore drilling .
The energy bill that passed the House this week included a laundry list of energy measures, including expansion of offshore drilling for oil. The Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act would increase the area off the U.S. coast where oil companies may drill. Most of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf has been under a drilling moratorium for 26 years, a ban that will expire at the end of this month.
Many members saw the bill as a compromise that would also promote efficiency and renewable energy alternatives FCNL supports some of these provisions, including renewing tax credits for wind and other renewable sources of energy and promoting electricity generation from renewable resources. Read more on the details of the bill.
Although the bill passed the House, the chances of it surviving the Senate are very slim. Few of its provisions have been approved by the Senate. And in this election year, which has created an abbreviated congressional schedule and a partisan atmosphere that poisons bipartisan collaboration, it's unlikely that Congress will succeed in achieving a major energy breakthrough.
What members of Congress can do, however, is set the stage for next year. The first six months of the next Congress will be an opportunity for action on energy, regardless of the outcome of the November elections. The more compromise and discussion that happens this year, the better chance of action next year.
Check back on our website for updates.
Devin Helfrich, Legislative Advocate