WASHINGTON — A long-standing congressional ban on new offshore oil drilling will expire in seven days, with Democratic leaders conceding Tuesday they stand no chance of renewing it this year over President Bush's opposition -- and in an election year in which gasoline prices have become a hot campaign issue.
With the moratorium lapsing, the issue will gain greater prominence in the election because it will be up to the next president and Congress to decide whether to renew all or part of the ban, which was imposed in 1981 to put much of the California coast off-limits to new oil rigs and expanded to much of the rest of the U.S. coasts in 1985.
"This next election will decide what our drilling policy will be," said Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain, like President Bush, has called for lifting the ban entirely, whereas Democratic nominee Barack Obama has said he would consider limited offshore drilling as a compromise in a comprehensive energy policy.
Once the ban expires, oil companies could seek federal approval to drill three miles offshore or farther. Congressional supporters of the moratorium hope that before any new drilling can begin they can renew it or at least win approval of compromise legislation that would forbid energy exploration up to 50 miles off the coast but let states decide whether to allow it beyond that.
"I think it's awful," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "This battle is not over. We will come back and fight another day -- that's for sure."
Rep. Lois Capps, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, where a 1969 oil spill devastated the coastline, said, "I hope that when Congress revisits this issue next year, with a new president, we can negotiate a compromise that respects the need to protect coastal states and puts our country on a path to a clean-energy future."
But Rep. Adam H. Putnam of Florida, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said, "After a long summer of $4 gas, with winter home heating bills on the way, this good news could not have come too soon."
The drilling ban had been included annually in spending bills. But the current ban expires Sept. 30, and 155 House Republicans and 49 Senate Republicans pledged to fight any effort to extend it as part of a must-pass bill needed to keep the government funded into next year. That spending bill, which will come before the House and the Senate this week before Congress recesses for the fall campaign, will include $25 billion in loans to help the auto industry build more fuel-efficient cars.
