Senators want delay in drilling for gulf oil

The amendment would challenge President Bush's compromise that limited the proposed drilling area.

By JOHN BALZ

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 10, 2001

WASHINGTON -- Unsatisfied with the Bush administration's plan to limit oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Florida's Democratic senators plan to ask their colleagues about putting the region off limits for at least a year.

Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson are likely to introduce an amendment on the Senate floor that would ban the sale of new oil and gas leases until October 2002. The amendment would be offered on the Interior appropriations bill, which could be considered as soon as Wednesday.

"I think we've got the support," Nelson said Monday. "But I can't be totally sure."

Graham and Nelson were in Nantucket, Mass., this weekend for a Democratic fundraiser where they spoke with one another about the amendment. Nelson said he and Graham will speak with other senators and start a rough count of votes today. If they think support for the amendment is weak, it might not be offered.

The amendment would be the first Congressional test of the Bush compromise and an apparent sign that the oil and gas drilling issue has yet to be resolved.

Last week, the Department of the Interior, with the support of Gov. Jeb Bush, announced plans to go ahead with the sale of new oil and gas leases in a reduced, 1.5-million-acre patch 285 miles from Tampa and 100 miles from Pensacola.

The Interior Department hopes to sell the leases on the Gulf of Mexico site -- known as area 181 -- this December. But if adopted, the Nelson/Graham legislation would take effect in October 2001 and thus pre-empt the sale.

The two senators are following a script similar to the one by Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Pensacola, and Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, who successfully offered an amendment to the House's Interior appropriation's bill. Davis and Scarborough's amendment, which passed with 70 Republican supporters, bans the sale of new oil and gas leases until April 2002.

If the Senate goes along with the one-year ban, a conference committee would have to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of the prohibition.

Originally, the Interior Department wanted to offer up some 5.9-million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for lease to oil and gas companies. The area was as close as 17 miles from the Florida Panhandle and 213 miles from Tampa Bay.

The Bush compromise shrinks the area to one-fourth the original size and would push the drilling rigs at least 100 miles from the Florida coast.

But Nelson was harshly critical of the area 181 compromise, saying it would encourage further oil exploration in the eastern gulf. Graham called the agreement a "partial victory" for Florida but also said the possibility of future energy exploration was worrisome.

Graham and Nelson's goal would be to persuade senators in the Great Lakes region, where the threat of oil and gas drilling has become real, to vote for their proposal. The House recently passed an amendment that would ban offshore oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes, which also drew the support of 70 Republicans.

Nelson said he has spoken with Democratic Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin of Michigan about the amendment. He said he also talked with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who he said was receptive to the idea.

But Nelson and Graham could have more difficulty rounding up support than Davis and Scarborough did. With the smaller compromise area announced by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, drilling opponents are likely to point out that the new leases in area 181 are not in Florida's waters.

Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, both Ohio Republicans, likely would be targets for Graham and Nelson's lobbying effort because of their opposition to oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes. But a spokesman for Voinovich said he supports drilling in area 181.

Graham and Nelson also plan to raise awareness about legislation they introduced in April to permanently ban oil and gas drilling in the entire outer continental shelf off Florida.

Graham will be talking about the bill at an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Thursday, although he does not expect the measure to come to the floor any time soon.

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