Published: 07-16-08
Gives States Drilling Options and Revenue Sharing
WASHINGTON DC – Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02) continues his push to end the longstanding moratoriums on offshore drilling and promote efforts to expand domestic energy exploration.
Congressman Poe recently filed the American Energy Independence through Offshore Drilling Act to achieve greater national energy independence by terminating the current moratorium on all oil and natural gas leasing activities for any area of the Outer Continental Shelf. Poe’s DRILL NOW Act goes one step further by allowing individual states the option of drilling off their shores while sharing in the revenues generated by the expanded exploration.
“It is time to put US energy policies back into the hands of Americans” said Poe. “It makes logical sense that when looking for solutions we should go right to the primary source of the problem – the supply of crude oil. The DRILL NOW Act allows states to decide on drilling closer to their shores and lets them share in that revenue.
“By limiting our ability to explore for energy we are only stifling our own energy supply and therefore punishing our citizens with soaring energy costs. This is a “win-win” bill that allows for further exploration while rewarding states that want to control their own energy supply and continue respecting the environment.”
DRILL NOW Act of 2008:
• Ends current longstanding moratoriums on domestic production of energy offshore and ends any authority a president can use to issue future moratoriums; except for conflicts with military operations and/or national security.
• Allows states who pass a law detailing plans for offshore drilling off their coasts to petition the federal government to issue leases up to 50 miles off their coasts.
• Allows every coastal state to receive 37.5 of all royalty revenue on these leases which can be used for any purpose they choose such as for education transportation projects healthcare etc.
• Allows 25 of the royalty revenue on these leases to be deposited in a clean and alternative energy fund which can be used to expand future energy sources nationwide in addition to petroleum and natural gas such as biomass geothermal hydrogen fuel cells solar wind and hydropower.
• Allows 12.5 of the royalty revenue on these leases to be used to improve coastal environments and recreation.
According to the Minerals Management Service the most promising areas for new supplies of oil (86 billion barrels) and gas (420 trillion cubic feet) continue to be offshore.
“Allowing this energy to be tapped will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy provide billions in revenue to the federal government for clean and alternative energy research and provide billions in revenue to many cash-strapped state governments” continued Poe. “While I support the notion of drilling anywhere and everywhere there is oil including ANWR the infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico is already established and will yield faster results.”
For more information on this issue including additional legislation speeches and opinion editorials please visit our website: http://poe.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=2287
