Virginia’s two U.S. senators are pushing to ensure that the state, rather than the federal government, gets a share of the wealth expected from offshore oil drilling.
Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb, both Democrats, introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow oil drilling off the Virginia coast and give 37.5 percent of leasing revenues to the state, with another 12.5 percent to environmental conservation and transportation projects in the state.
President Obama announced the federal government would allow offshore drilling along the Atlantic Coast in 2010, and since then Virginia lawmakers, including Gov. Bob McDonnell, have been pushing for Virginia to be among the first to drill.
Webb and Warner earlier this year helped defeat a bill that would have allowed offshore drilling but without the revenue-sharing measures the Virginians want. Gulf-coast states already earn a 37.5 percent share of revenues from offshore oil drilling, and the senators want the same for Virginia.
Democratic senators from inland states have opposed revenue-sharing in the past, arguing that the federal government needs all the funds it can get, with the deficit so high.
Warner and Webb said their bill would allow the U.S. to tap domestic energy resources while aiding Virginia’s economy and environment.
