Offshore Drilling Bill Passes in Va House
A plan on how to allocate royalties from offshore drilling – should the federal moratorium be lifted – has moved out of a House of Delegates committee.
Reintroduced this year by Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, the bill was approved Friday by the Appropriations Committee by a 21-3 vote.
Saxman proposes using money from natural gas and oil drilling for state investments in transportation, renewable electricity, coastal energy and efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Appropriations Committee member Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, voted for the bill.
Last year, the bill passed the House of Delegates but was narrowly defeated in the Senate, 18-16.
Unfortunately, even if this bill does somehow manage to pass AND survive a veto by Obama ally Governor Tim Kaine, it won’t have much affect, as Obama certainly isn’t going to break his promises to the environmental lobby.
The administration is far more content to just throw money at problems rather than helping states open up revenue streams of their own.
