No Compromise - Just Run Out the Clock

Septemeber 22, 2008
Now is not the time to compromise on increasing domestic oil production.  Now is the time to just run out the clock and allow all offshore drilling and oil shale moratoria to expire on September 30.  The “compromise” plan offered by the Democratic leadership in Congress is a charade.  The legislation was specifically designed to allow vulnerable Democrats to be able to tell their constituents that they voted for increased drilling while ensuring that little or no drilling would actually take place.

The Democratic backed legislation puts all areas within 50 miles of shore completely off-limits, allows states to decide if they want leasing between 50 and 100 miles of their coast, and removes all restrictions on leasing between 100 and 200 miles of the coast.  There are several problems with the legislation; the most important being that the vast majority of offshore resources are expected to be within 50 miles of the coast.  In addition, there are no incentives to encourage the states to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles of their coast and it does nothing to prevent environmental groups from continuing to use litigation to completely block or significantly delay leasing, exploration, and production.

Technically, each state only has jurisdiction over the waters between their coast and three nautical miles offshore (a little more than 3 nautical miles for Louisiana and 9 nautical miles for Texas and Florida).  All other Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas from 3 to 200 nautical miles (more than 200 in some cases) are under federal jurisdiction.   Allowing a state to have control over what happens in federal waters or on federal lands would essentially be ceding jurisdiction to the states.  That does not mean that we shouldn’t consult with them and give them a share of the lease revenues and royalties, but they should not have veto power over the leasing of any areas under federal jurisdiction.

With the current turmoil in the financial markets, it would appear that the Senate might be too busy to take up the bill, which passed on a party line vote in the House, before the September 30 deadline.  Republicans just need to stall, as the Democrats did for months before going on their August recess, and let the leasing moratoria expire.  That can be followed by an open and honest debate about a realistic energy policy that actually addresses our country’s needs, not just the desires of the environmental lobby.