House bans drilling off California coast

On July 17, the House approved a much-debated amendment to prohibit new oil drilling on leases off the coast of California. The same day the House voted to increase funds for the scandal-ridden National Endowment for the Arts.

On July 24, the House expelled Rep. James Traficant (D.-Ohio) by a vote of 420 to 1, The only dissenting member was Gary Condit (D.Calif.). The House left on recess July 26 and is scheduled to return September 3.

Roll Call

House Bans Drilling Off California Coast

On July 17, by a vote of 252 to 172, the House approved an amendment to the Interior Department appropriations bill (HR 5093) that effectively forbids any new oil drilling off the California coast in any of 36 leases held by oil and gas companies. The areas covered by the leases are now undeveloped.

Rep. Lois Capps (D.-Calif.), co-sponsor of the amendment with Nick Rahall (D.-W.Va.) and George Miller (D.-Calif.), said, "it is time to take action to permanently end the threat of new oil drilling off the central coast of California," said Capps. "Californians oppose new drilling. We have plenty of oil platforms already, and even the oil companies themselves want a resolution to our mess."

Outlining the previous congressional bans on leasing off the coasts of North Carolina, Alaska and Florida-which have left the United States more dependent on foreign sources of oil-- Capps justified her own attempt to further enrich terror-sponsoring oil-producing nations. "More oil drilling Is just not worth the risk to this environmentally and economically valuable area," she said of California's coast.

Opposing the amendment, Rep. Zach Wamp (R.-Tenn.), said, "In order to maintain our society as we know it, we are going to have to maintain a certain amount of domestic production, and this obviously would cut into that domestic production," he said. "This amendment would actually send the wrong message right now to the markets. it would potentially drive up costs at a time when we are experiencing economic pains; and clearly, we are going to have to look at both reducing the demand and increasing the supply."

One of the few California opponents of the amendment, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.), who represents a coastal area, said it was anti-environment. Noting that he is an avid surfer, Rohrabacher said that he had never Been any pollution resulting from offshore oil drilling, but he had seen major oil spills as a result of massive importation of oil from foreign countries. "Everyone in here knows that if we do not develop the actual oil resources, we are going to get that oil from someone who will deliver it to us by tanker, which is perhaps 10 to 100 times more likely to spill that oil on our coastline," he said. Rohrabacher said that the United States adopts a "not-in-my-backyard" policy toward oil drilling at its own peril.

A "yes" vote was a vote to ban oil drilling in 36 designated leased sites owned by the federal government off the coast of California. A "no" vote was a vote to allow future development of the natural gas and oil resources in that area.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 29, 2002
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