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Surprise vote erodes drilling buffers

Florida's House delegation and Gov. Jeb Bush roundly blast a bill amendment that would allow drilling just a few miles offshore.

By WES ALLISON
Published September 30, 2005

WASHINGTON - In Congress, where deals are struck behind the scenes and outcomes are often foregone conclusions, even the best-laid plans can be spoiled by lunch.

The House Resources Committee was considering a plan Wednesday that would greatly expand offshore drilling in the nation's waters, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico, in exchange for a 125-mile buffer and the power for each state to decide whether energy companies may drill much closer to shore.

The committee chairman, Richard Pombo, R-Calif., had spent nearly two months haggling with Florida Republicans in Congress and Gov. Jeb Bush to reach a deal. He had convinced most of the Floridians, whose support is key to passage in the full House, and his committee was in the process of approving the deal Wednesday.

Then two Resources Committee members, John Peterson, R-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, offered a radical amendment: Remove, entirely, all federal bans on natural gas drilling to allow rigs within just a few miles of the U.S. coast. While the amendment was expected, it also was expected to fail.

But sometimes things happen. As Peterson and Abercrombie were arguing that only more natural gas production would lower energy prices and save the nation's economy, a buzzer rang announcing a series of votes on the House floor.

Pombo declared a brief recess, and the committee members scurried across Independence Avenue to the Capitol to vote.

When he returned a half-hour later to resume the hearing, fewer than half of his committee's 49 members were there. It was lunchtime, and some apparently had stopped for a bite.

Pombo called for the vote on the Peterson-Abercrombie amendment anyway. To his surprise, a majority said "Aye."

Pombo looked around. His staff looked around. No one asked for a roll call to verify the vote. Suddenly the Peterson-Abercrombie amendment had been adopted, to be rolled into a larger energy bill expected to reach the House floor next week.

The delicate Florida deal began to unravel.

Gov. Bush, who has been working directly with Pombo, sent a letter criticizing the Peterson-Abercrombie amendment as a deal-breaker. So did Reps. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, and Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, who were leading negotiations in Washington.

Reps. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, and Connie Mack, R-Naples, circulated a letter, vowing to fight the amendment to the end. Twenty-two of Florida's 25 House members signed, and half of them gathered Thursday to blast it again in person.

"This reckless approach not only opens Florida's pristine coast to natural gas production, but it poses a catastrophic risk which cannot stand," Davis and Mack's letter said.

A spokeswoman for Pombo said he would work with Peterson to remove the amendment from the bill. But Peterson was disinclined to dicker.

"He didn't do this symbolically," Peterson spokesman Chris Tucker said. "We're in the middle of a natural gas crisis."

As House Resources chairman, Pombo wields significant clout, and he likely will ask the Rules Committee for help killing the Peterson-Abercrombie amendment when the energy bill reaches the floor. If he fails, opposition from coastal state lawmakers would jeopardize the entire bill.

"They're going to find a way to correct this," Pombo spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli said.

Even if Pombo succeeds, his deal with the Floridians still is uncertain. In his letter, Gov. Bush said he supported the major tenets of the plan, but he's concerned it would not stop drilling in existing oil and gas leases within the 125-mile buffer.

Most Democrats, including Davis, are likely to oppose the deal anyway, as are several Republicans. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, said it's too risky to give future governors and Legislatures the power to allow drilling within the 125-mile zone.

Currently, a patchwork of federal moratoriums prevents drilling within 200 miles of Tampa Bay and 100 miles off Pensacola. They begin expiring in 2007, and the state's East Coast and the Straits of Florida have no protection.

Advocates say they like the idea of putting a buffer around the entire state and enshrining it in law, even if the Legislature could change it. With high energy prices and two hurricanes having disrupted energy production in the western gulf, pressure is growing to drill off Florida.

"It's getting more difficult," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said. "There's not going to be less pressure five years from now."

[Last modified September 30, 2005, 01:37:04]