N.H. Democrats Back Measure to Allow Offshore Drilling
DRILLING
New Hampshire Union Leader
Jenny Paul
Boston University Washington News Service
September 16, 2008
WASHINGTON – New Hampshire’s Democratic representatives voiced support Tuesday for an energy bill that would allow oil and natural gas drilling in some coastal waters but would prohibit development of Georges Bank, New England’s prime fishing ground.
Reps. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) and Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) followed other House Democrats and backed the measure, which could open waters more than 50 miles from shore to drilling. Each state would have control over drilling that occurs between 50 and 100 miles off its coastline, while the federal government would control waters beyond 100 miles.
When President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July, both representatives condemned the action as shortsighted. Hodes said he supports the House bill because it offers a comprehensive energy strategy that doesn’t focus solely on drilling.
“We have expanded offshore drilling, we have support for renewable and alternative energies, we are finally shifting this country’s energy policy in a comprehensive way,” Hodes said. “I’m willing to make this compromise. I think it’s what the American people have been calling for.”
The measure would require utility companies to use renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, to produce 15 percent of their annual electricity supply by 2020. It would not allow states to share in the revenues from increased drilling. Instead, the money would be used to research and promote clean renewable energy.
“We are interested in fiscal responsibility, and fiscal responsibility and pay-as-you-go require that we direct the funding to national priorities,” Hodes said.
But many Republicans, including Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), denounced the bill as a bait-and-switch tactic because it doesn’t allow the states to take part in the proceeds from increased offshore drilling. Gregg said the absence of revenue sharing “basically guarantees the difference whether or not the drilling will be pursued.”
“This bill was not written for the purposes of drilling offshore,” Gregg said. “This bill was written for the purpose of protecting people politically.”
A congressional moratorium on offshore drilling that has been in effect since 1981 expires Sept. 30. Because Bush already lifted the executive ban on drilling, without a new bill, the federal government could allow drilling as close as three miles offshore, Shea-Porter said.
“I’m supporting it because it’s the best compromise that can come out, and it’s actually a fair one because what it will do is allow more drilling, but it will allow states to opt in,” she said, dismissing the contention that states wouldn’t agree to offshore drilling without revenue sharing. “States know that if they have this, they too will have jobs.”
Sununu is backing an energy proposal being developed by a bipartisan coalition in the Senate that would allow drilling across the Gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Under the proposal, states would be able to share in the revenue generated. The proposal also would provide tax credits for renewable energy and promote the use of nuclear power, according to a Sununu press release.
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