WASHINGTON — With political anxiety on Capitol Hill rising along with gasoline prices, the Senate voted Tuesday to open a large section of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling, advancing the energy bill that stands the best chance of approval this year.
The bill, approved 71-25, now must be reconciled with a broader and more controversial House measure that would relax the decades-long ban on drilling in most coastal waters, including along the Pacific coast.
Senators from both parties, attuned to constituents' ire over high fuel costs, were eager to pass energy legislation before heading home for the summer recess. Eighteen Democrats joined 53 Republicans to support the Senate bill; 24 Democrats -- including California's Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein -- and one independent were opposed.
The Senate bill would limit new drilling to about 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico -- an area thought to contain more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The new drilling, though, would have little effect on overall energy supplies because the U.S. annually consumes about 7.3 billion barrels of oil and about 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
By contrast, the House bill would lift, nationwide, the ban on drilling beyond 100 miles off the coast. It also would enable each coastal state to decide whether to permit energy exploration within 100 miles of its shore.
In return for opening their coasts to energy exploration, states would get a share of drilling royalties -- a provision that gained the strong backing of Gulf Coast senators of both parties. Even so, a large number of coastal-state officials, including Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, strongly oppose the House proposal.
The Senate measure is the product of a fragile compromise worked out by GOP leaders with Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who dropped his opposition to drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in return for a provision of the bill that would prohibit drilling within 125 miles of the Florida Panhandle through 2022.
To win the backing of Gulf Coast lawmakers, the bill would give Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas a bigger chunk of the royalties from drilling in the newly opened area.
The Bush administration has expressed support for the Senate bill, calling it important to national security. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, predicted that it would be the first step toward lifting the moratorium on coastal drilling in other parts of the country.
