Senators push for gas drilling off Florida coast

With natural gas supplies lagging, some senators raise the possibility of lifting bans on drilling.

By WES ALLISON
Published December 12, 2004

WASHINGTON - Citing growing demand and rising prices, the chairman of the Senate energy committee has asked the Bush administration to consider opening protected coastal areas to natural gas drilling, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Florida.

In a letter dated Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with two fellow committee members, told Interior Secretary Gale Norton that natural gas supply is not keeping pace with demand, and said the nation must find more. They also blame the high cost of natural gas for the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas.

"While we recognize that many areas of the (outer continental shelf) are under administrative withdrawal and/or Congressional moratoria, we are writing to request that the Department of Interior solicit comments from all interested parties on the appropriateness of leasing in both moratoria and non-moratoria areas," said the letter by Domenici and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

A large swatch of the eastern gulf, known as Area 181, has been off-limits to exploration since 2002, when a federal-state deal paid Chevron and two other lease-holders $115-million not to drill.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., an opponent of offshore drilling off Florida, learned about the letter last week, and on Friday night he sent Norton a letter. In it, he reminds her of the bipartisan support for the moratorium and notes that a new national task force report on boosting U.S. gas production does not suggest drilling in banned areas.

"A quick, knee-jerk response to volatile energy markets may not serve our country's long-term objectives: decreasing foreign imports and increasing alternative energy sources," Nelson wrote.

Nelson was traveling Saturday and could not be reached for comment, but he will fight any attempt to lift the ban, aides said. Calls to Domenici's office and the Department of Interior were not returned Saturday.

"It certainly indicates that there is a serious attempt to undo the moratorium," said Dan McLaughlin, Nelson's deputy chief of staff. "Although this particular request is for gas leases only, once you allow drilling to take place near the coast of Florida, there will be no stopping the oil companies."

The perception that drilling could tar Florida's beaches, as it has done to coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana, has made it one of the few issues where state Democratic and Republican leaders can agree. President Bush reiterated his support for the drilling ban during the recent campaign.

In their letter to Norton, however, Domenici and his colleagues noted that more than 90 percent of new or planned power plants will be fueled by natural gas.

"Quite simply, we have pursued a policy that is in conflict with itself. On the one hand we encourage the use of natural gas in this country to meet our energy needs and environmental goals," the letter said. "However, we have ignored the supply side of the equation. Some combination of increased production, conservation and imports will be required to fill in this gap."

Last year, led by Nelson and outgoing Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., Congress killed a provision that would have inventoried gas and oil reserves off Florida's coast, for fear it would lead to lifting of the ban. Graham's replacement, Republican Sen.-elect Mel Martinez, said he also supports the ban.

[Last modified December 12, 2004, 00:31:18]