December 12, 2004
GOP planning Rape of the Gulf
Two years ago, we paid some big oil companies lots of money as part of a widely touted agreement to keep oil and gas drilling far far away from Florida’s coasts.
Well, now that both Jeb! and his brother have retaken their respective offices, it seems that ANWR may not be the only target for exploitation and rape.
Citing growing demand and rising prices, the chairman of the Senate energy committee has asked the Bush administration to consider opening protected coastal areas to natural gas drilling, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Florida.In a letter dated Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with two fellow committee members, told Interior Secretary Gale Norton that natural gas supply is not keeping pace with demand, and said the nation must find more. They also blame the high cost of natural gas for the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas.
"While we recognize that many areas of the (outer continental shelf) are under administrative withdrawal and/or Congressional moratoria, we are writing to request that the Department of Interior solicit comments from all interested parties on the appropriateness of leasing in both moratoria and non-moratoria areas," said the letter by Domenici and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
A large swatch of the eastern gulf, known as Area 181, has been off-limits to exploration since 2002, when a federal-state deal paid Chevron and two other lease-holders $115-million not to drill.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., an opponent of offshore drilling off Florida, learned about the letter last week, and on Friday night he sent Norton a letter. In it, he reminds her of the bipartisan support for the moratorium and notes that a new national task force report on boosting U.S. gas production does not suggest drilling in banned areas.
"A quick, knee-jerk response to volatile energy markets may not serve our country's long-term objectives: decreasing foreign imports and increasing alternative energy sources," Nelson wrote.
Nelson was traveling Saturday and could not be reached for comment, but he will fight any attempt to lift the ban, aides said. Calls to Domenici's office and the Department of Interior were not returned Saturday.
"It certainly indicates that there is a serious attempt to undo the moratorium," said Dan McLaughlin, Nelson's deputy chief of staff. "Although this particular request is for gas leases only, once you allow drilling to take place near the coast of Florida, there will be no stopping the oil companies."
Contact Information for Mel Martinez? (Can't find anything current right now.)
Posted by Norwood at December 12, 2004 09:41 AM