Greenwire: Plans for offshore drilling in Virginia have garnered an unprecedented level of support as the nation searches for alternative energy sources and looks to create new jobs and revenue during the economic slump.
Gov. Bob McDonnell and fellow elected Republicans strongly support the proposal, as do most members of the state’s congressional delegation and both of Virginia’s U.S. senators — who are Democrats.
“This is common sense. Why not use our resources so we don’t have to depend on fluctuating political realities in the Mideast to determine the cost of gasoline?” McDonnell said.
Even Virginia Beach, which relies heavily on tourism, passed a resolution recently that supports oil and gas drilling off its shore.
The General Assembly also passed a pair of bills during its annual session that underscore the Legislature’s bipartisan support for drilling — one that backs exploration, development and production 50 miles off the coast, and another that directs 70 percent of any future drilling royalties to state road improvements.
To move forward with any offshore drilling plans, Congress would still need to pass a bill to allow Virginia to receive any royalties from offshore oil or gas drilling, as it did in 2006 when it allowed Gulf Coast states to begin taking home 37.5 percent of revenue.
But environmental groups and some Democratic members of Congress still worry about possible spills from such drilling practices and new infrastructure onshore that could harm plants, animals, tourism and the naval base in Norfolk, the world’s largest.
“I think this needs to be looked at. We need to find out what’s out there,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said of offshore drilling. But he cautioned that it is “not a silver bullet” and that any energy solution would have to be part of a “portfolio approach.”
The 25-year-old federal moratorium on energy exploration and development off the coast of Virginia and other states expired two years ago (Anita Kumar, Washington Post, March 17). – DFM