Virginia House Speaker William Howell on Thursday urged the Obama administration to open a stretch of ocean off the state’s coast to oil and gas drilling by 2011.
Howell — with other Virginia officials — wants to lease exploration rights for 2.9 million offshore acres. Environmental groups oppose the move.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this year put at least a six-month delay on a Bush administration proposal to allow energy exploration in new areas off the U.S. coast.
“Developing these resources would create thousands of new jobs in our commonwealth, arriving at the right time to assist in lifting our workers, families and communities out of this economic recession,” said Howell, R-Stafford.
The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service estimates the swath of ocean 50 miles off Virginia’s coast could contain 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels of oil a day, and nearly 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
A delay in drilling would “would only serve to hamper our commonwealth’s economic recovery, competitiveness and job creation, as well as squander our ability to safely develop new and needed domestic energy production,” Howell wrote in the letter.
Since the expiration of a federal moratorium on offshore drilling, the issue of opening new areas to offshore drilling has become a top campaign issue in the state’s gubernatorial race. Republican nominee Bob McDonnell has put offshore oil and gas exploration at the top of his energy plan. Deeds, who has put more emphasis on green energy technologies, has said he is open to offshore drilling for oil natural gas as long as it doesn’t hurt the environment, tourism or the fishing industry.
Opponents argue offshore drilling would damage coastal economies and harm marine ecosystems.
The public comment period for the offshore lease plan ends in late September.
