House Democrats pass phony energy, drilling bill

Washington Post:

The House approved a package of energy initiatives yesterday, including measures that would allow oil drilling as close as 50 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and finance the long-term development of alternative energy sources.

In the first substantive votes since gas prices rose above $4 a gallon this summer, the House divided largely along party lines, 236 to 189, with most Republicans rejecting the Democratic-sponsored legislation because it would prohibit exploration of much of the known oil reserves closer to the coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico.

As they reversed their long-held opposition to more offshore oil exploration, Democrats said the increased taxes on oil companies in the bill and the collection of royalty payments from the drilling would yield billions of dollars to help finance the development of cleaner, renewable energy sources.

"We're not trying to give incentives to drill, we're giving incentives to invest in renewables and natural gas that will take us where we need to go," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters before the vote.

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Republicans and some industry experts contend that little new energy production would result from the legislation, because federal studies have shown that more than 85 percent of known offshore oil reserves are inside the 50-mile mark. (Emphasis added.)

The bill would not allow the sharing of royalties from leases with states, something that could decrease the incentive for state governments to allow drilling closer to their coasts. Pelosi indicated some willingness Tuesday to consider a compromise on that issue.

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This is a sham. It is Democrat politics of fraud at its worst. They are blocking drilling in the most productive sites so they can pretend that they are approving offshore drilling. Republicans should hammer them on this fraudulent legislation and the President should veto it if it survives the Senate where other bogus bills are being presented by the Gang of whatever.

If Congress wonders why their approval rating is so low this bill is one reason. Those who voted for this abomination deserve to be defeated in November. The Democrats continue to be the anti energy party.

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