In the face of escalating pain at the pump for drivers, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell brought his energy pitch to a Richmond-area gas station Thursday, pushing for legislation that would clear the way for energy exploration off of Virginia’s coast and could allow the state to reap badly needed revenues for transportation. “I strongly support increasing domestic energy production from every possible source, including wind, solar, biomass, nuclear, oil and natural gas,” said McDonnell. “A key part of that effort should be the environmentally responsible development and production of oil and natural gas off of Virginia’s shores.”
If the U.S. House of Representatives has its way, McDonnell will get his wish. The House passed legislation Thursday that would restart oil and natural gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off Virginia’s coast that had been halted in the wake of last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
McDonnell, who penned a recent letter to President Obama on the matter, has linked offshore drilling to his broader transportation funding plan for the state. Last year, at his request, the General Assembly passed legislation that would direct 80 percent of revenues from exploration and drilling to transportation, and 20 percent to green energy research and development.
A report from the Southeast Energy Alliance estimates that offshore exploration and production would generate nearly 2,000 jobs in the state, and that Virginia could receive up to $250 million annually in revenue-sharing payments.
The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates that the nearly three-million-acre triangular swath of ocean 50 miles off Virginia’s southeastern coast could yield 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
But that would translate to only a six-day supply of oil and an 18-day supply of natural gas, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“This vote today is all about risk with no reward to the people of Virginia,” said J.R. Tolbert of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The federal government also has to sign off if Virginia is to see any revenue from the sale of leases in the area. U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has introduced a separate bill that would split revenues from the sale between the federal government and the state.
The measure approved Thursday faces a tough road in the Senate, though U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner, both Democrats, have spoken in favor of exploration of oil and gas resources off Virginia’s coast, along with a revenue-sharing formula for the state and federal government.
