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House approves bill to lift ban on offshore drilling
 Anxious to show voters back home that Congress can do something about high gas prices, House lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that would expand drilling for oil and natural gas off most of the U.S. coast and Alaska. The bill, which passed on a 232-187 vote, would end a ban on new domestic offshore drilling that for 25 years confined such activity almost exclusively to the western and central Gulf of Mexico.The bill would grant states more control over energy production in federal waters. It also would give states a portion of royalties and fees energy companies now pay exclusively to the federal government. The proposal marks the possibility of a major change in U.S. energy policy and a setback for environmentalists who warn that expanding offshore drilling would further pollute already troubled marine waters and put coasts at risk for oil spills. Posted by: Fred 2006-07-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=157798 |