

Democrats yield on drilling ban, but Florida stays off-limits


WASHINGTON -- Giving in to Republican demands, House Democrats agreed Tuesday night to drop the ban on oil drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to allow passage of a stopgap funding bill to keep the government running.

Democrats conceded defeat after a months-long struggle with the White House and Republicans, who demanded offshore drilling after gas prices rose to $4 a gallon this summer.

But a drilling ban in waters within 125 miles of Florida's Gulf Coast would remain in force under a law passed by Congress in 2006, according to House Democrats from Florida. As for the state's east coast, the deep waters would be expensive to drill and are thought to contain relatively little oil or gas.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, co-chairman of the Florida congressional delegation, said he had been assured that the funding bill would reaffirm the ban along the state's Gulf Coast.

Given the pressure to drill, he said, "This is huge victory for the people of Florida, for our state's economy, and for our natural resources. I now will turn my attention to the Senate to give our senators the support and leverage they need to keep this deal in place."

Democrats said they had to drop the moratorium along the Atlantic and Pacific to prevent a standoff that would have shut down much of the government.

"The White House has made it clear they will not accept anything with a drilling moratorium, and Democrats know we cannot afford to shut down the government over this," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Republican leaders called it a victory for consumers, though most energy experts say expanded drilling would have no impact on current fuel prices. "If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices," said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.

The moratorium along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts will expire at the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

Republicans threatened to block the temporary funding bill if it included renewal of the drilling ban. And if such a ban did pass Congress, President Bush threatened to veto it.

The result was a high-stakes confrontation, with each side accusing the other of putting government operations in jeopardy. House Democrats blinked Tuesday but vowed to pursue legislation after the Nov. 4 election to limit drilling and encourage development of alternative fuel sources.

Last week, the House passed legislation to open waters off the Atlantic and Pacific to drilling but only 50 or more miles out to sea and only if affected states agreed to it. Republicans called that effort a sham that would have left almost 90 percent of offshore reserves effectively off-limits.

Though the ban on energy development will be lifted if the Senate goes along with the House action as expected, it doesn't mean federal sale of oil and gas leases in offshore waters would be imminent.

The Interior Department's five-year leasing plan includes potential leases off the Virginia coast but probably would not be pursued unless the state agrees. And the state is unlikely to do so without Congress agreeing to share federal royalties with the state.

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