Politics

House Blocks Bush Drilling Plan

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 22, 2001 / 8:19 AM EDT / CBS

The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday voted to temporarily block drilling for oil and natural gas in Florida's offshore Gulf waters.

Florida lawmakers tacked an amendment to an $18.9 billion Interior spending bill. The amendment would prevent drilling, until to April 2002, in an area that lies mostly about 100 miles from the state's coastline. One narrow strip of the lease area ends about 30 miles from the Florida coast.

Florida opposes the lease sale, which would cover 6 million acres, because of concerns an oil spill could harm its profitable tourist industry, which is a large part of the state's economy.

Lawmakers approved the amendment in a 247-164 vote as part of the overall spending bill that was also cleared by the House. The Senate must still act on the measure and President Bush would then have to sign the legislation.

The House also voted to block a Bush administration plan to pursue new oil, gas and coal development in national monuments.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has repeatedly urged President Bush's administration not to proceed with plans to extend offshore oil and gas drilling to a tract that comes as close as 17 miles to Pensacola in the Florida panhandle. Yet the White House was working hard to generate opposition to any delay in leases, including calls to some of Florida's Republican lawmakers.

The amendment, sponsored by Reps. Jim Davis, D-Fla., and Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., would prevent the Interior Department from signing final lease agreements in the tract, known as Lease Sale 181, until April 1, 2002. The delay, they said, would give opponents time to work out an agreement.

"The people of Florida don't want it. The governor doesn't want it. If you want to ruin our beaches ... we don't want it," said Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Fla.

Proponents of the leases, led by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, say the nation needs the area's oil and gas reserves to help ease the energy crunch. The department estimates there are 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves in the area, with industry projecting as much as 7.8 trillion cubic feet.

The area in question, lease proponents add, is near active energy production sites and closer to Alabama and Mississippi than it is to Florida.

"This amendment makes about as much sense as shutting down all exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and weakens our energy security," said House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas.