House Votes To End Offshore Drilling Ban
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — The House, responding to growing public demand for more domestic energy, has voted to end a quarter-century ban on oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
An extension of the ban for another year was left off a stopgap government spending bill the House approved today on a 370-58 vote.
Lifting the ban does not itself mean drilling in the offshore waters is imminent. But it could set the stage for the Interior Department to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011. Democrats said continuation of the drilling ban would have prompted a veto by President Bush and possible government shutdown.
The spending bill now goes to the Senate where it is likely to be approved in the next few days.
