Buried beneath the headlines of Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-VA)
and Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) outrageous vote against clean air in the U.S. Senate[1]
was[2]
a proposal tucked into a larger U.S. House of Representatives “energy
production bill” on Thursday. The proposal would grant leases for oil and gas
drilling and exploration off the coast of Virginia.
The representative who wishes to harm Virginia’s coastal
waters[3]
is none other than Virginia Beach’s own Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA Beach) who
successfully amended his offshore exploration and drilling provision to the
legislation. The energy production bill was approved in the GOP-controlled U.S.
House of Representatives along mostly party lines with a 248-163 vote.[4]
Aside from the important fact that it’s uncertain how much
oil and gas is off the coast of Virginia to begin with[5],
proceeds stemming from any companies drilling off Virginia’s coast wouldn’t
even be directly received by the commonwealth!
Add to these two convincing reasons not to drill off of
Virginia’s coast the potential for large-scale ecological and economic disaster
stemming from a new and devastating spill, and you have the perfect formula for
NOT drilling off the coast of Virginia.
But Republicans, in particular, just don’t like to be told
that their domestic energy policies are untenable and ridiculous. If Republicans
in Virginia truly want the commonwealth to be “the energy capital of the East
Coast,” it would make sense to prioritize wind and solar energy[6]
and not chase after substances at the bottom of the ocean that may not even
exist.
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