WASHINGTON - A bipartisan coalition of coastal-state lawmakers beat back an effort in the House yesterday to weaken the decades-old ban on new oil and gas drilling offshore, but they are bracing for a potentially tougher battle ahead.
The vote was 262-157 to defeat an effort to exempt new natural gas drilling from the federal moratorium, which covers most coastal waters except for large parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
While environmentalists celebrated their victory, they said they were worried about other efforts in Congress to break through the federal moratorium on new offshore drilling.
Bipartisan efforts are under way in the Senate, for example, to offer billions of dollars to entice financially hurting states to opt out of the moratorium. That bill's sponsors hope to include the measure in a sweeping overhaul of national energy policy being drafted in the Senate.
The push to ease the restrictions is being driven by economic and political factors: Lawmakers are under pressure to do something about high energy prices, and energy industry groups were emboldened by a Senate vote this year to open part of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration after years of debate.
Richard A. Charter, co-chairman of the National Outer Continental Shelf Coalition, an environmental advocacy group, called the House vote "only the beginning" of efforts in Congress to open coastal areas to drilling.
"This is a good time not to take your favorite beach for granted, because it could disappear while you're there," he said.
Mark Ferrulo, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group, said, "This fight is far from over. ... We're not going to sleep until this Congress goes home."
Industry officials argue that lawmakers should reconsider the moratorium because of high energy prices and U.S. dependence on foreign oil. In addition, they point to new technology that they assert has reduced the environmental risk from drilling.
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
