Coming Attractions
Jun 29th, 2006 at 8:14 pm by Susie
WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to end a quarter-century offshore drilling ban and allow energy companies to tap natural gas and oil beneath waters from New England to Alaska.
Opponents of the federal ban argued that the nation needed to move closer to energy independence and insisted the gas and oil could be taken without threatening the environment and coastal beaches. They said a state choosing to keep the moratorium could do so.
The measure was approved 232-187.
But the bill’s prospects in the Senate were uncertain. Florida’s two senators have vowed to filibuster any legislation that would allow drilling within 125 miles of Florida’s coast. Other senators from several coastal states also have strongly opposed ending the drilling restrictions.
In perhaps unrelated news:
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush has used his recently revived nonprofit foundation to pay a former campaign finance director and two former campaign aides.
Although Bush has said his Foundation for Florida’s Future is not a way of keeping his political machine intact after he leaves office early next year, recent disclosures on the foundation’s Web site show that it paid:• Nearly $99,000 to Ann Herberger, Bush’s campaign finance director during two campaign and a longtime political fund-raiser for his family.
• Nearly $70,000 to Neil Newhouse of Washington-based GOP Public Opinion Strategies group for polling last October.
• $48,000 for “management services” to a lobbying and public-affairs firm whose staff includes Mandy Clark and Mandy Fletcher. Both worked on Bush’s reelection campaign and on his brother’s presidential reelection campaign.
• $23,500 for “legal services” from the Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs.
• $20,000 in February to GOP political strategist Adam Goodman’s The Victory Group Inc.
House OKs End To Offshore Drilling Ban…
The House voted 232-187 to end a quarter-century offshore drilling ban and allow energy companies to…
“Well, this bill doesn’t just allow off-shore drilling. It changes all the rules on approving oil drilling in areas where it’s allowed. It changes all the maps for state marine boundaries. Did you know that? Probably not, because the new maps aren’t publicly available. It changes all the ways that royalty funds are distributed. It gives royalty breaks to oil companies. It’s a complex, sweeping 147-page bill with many unprecedented provisions that most Members know nothing about.”
– House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
http://www.energybulletin.net/17737.html