US House OKs offshore-drilling bill - Darren Goode

The House on Thursday fired the latest shot in the Washington war over gasoline prices, easily passing a GOP plan to expedite offshore oil and gas drilling leases.

Nearly three dozen Democrats signed on to a bill from House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) that would expedite lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Virginia coast that have been delayed or canceled since last year’s BP oil spill disaster. Still, that probably won’t spur any action in the Senate or break the overall partisan gridlock on soaring gas prices.

Republicans will bring up two more pro-drilling bills next week, and while all three measures are expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate, the GOP is happy to push the narrative that the Obama administration has stymied offshore exploration to the point it has raised oil and gasoline prices.

Note EU-Digest: this GOP bill shows once again how short sighted some politicians can be. Instead of proposing funding for environmentally clean alternative energy projects and legislation forcing automakers to design cars which are not only fuel efficient, but also use alternative energy, they come up with short term, environmentally damaging proposals based on the use of fossil fuels.

For more: House OKs offshore-drilling bill - Darren Goode - POLITICO.com