6/18/2008 - Off-shore Oil Positions of Bush/Collins/McCain Differ Sharply From Obama/Allen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
CONTACT: Rebecca Pollard (207) 772-4353
Meanwhile, Tom Allen and Barack Obama share the belief that America can’t drill its way out of our energy crisis. The complete unwillingness of the Bush Administration and their Republican allies in Congress to transition to a renewable energy infrastructure over the past 7 years has only made the problem worse. It’s time we put an end to the rampant, unchecked speculation in the oil markets and record profiteering by the Big Oil companies.
ALLEN/OBAMA POSITION: For long-term solutions, against offshore drilling
Barack Obama, LA Times, 6/18/08
"The Illinois senator [Obama] opposes an end to the moratorium and his campaign quickly attacked McCain's proposal as ‘short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil.' Obama called for imposing a windfall- profits tax on oil companies and urged investing "in the affordable renewable sources of energy that Sen. McCain has opposed in the past." [Los Angeles Times, 6/18/08]
Tom Allen, Turn Maine Blue, 6/18/08
"We need a long term solution to our energy crisis that focuses on ending our dependence on foreign oil and investing in alternative and renewable energy sources. That is why I have introduced a series of measures that will help people deal with the high cost of energy now while investing in long term solutions. Off shore drilling, like drilling in ANWR, will only increase the already record high profits of Big Oil at the expense of our environment, and will do nothing to lower the price at the pump." [Turn Maine Blue, 6/18/08]
Tom Allen's Record:
Allen Voted Against Oil Drilling In Gulf of Mexico. In 2005, Allen voted against funneling up to $2 billion over 10 years into research for recovering oil and gas from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The measure was known as the ''DeLay ultra-deep-water provision'' because it was inserted by House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX). An attempt to strike the provision from the bill was defeated 203-227, with 29 Republicans voting to strike it. [HR 6, Vote #128, 4/21/05; New York Times, 4/20/05]
Allen Voted Against Reducing Oil Lease Payments To Taxpayers. In 2003, Allen voted against reducing the amount of money oil and gas companies must pay the federal government in exchange for drilling in deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico. More than two-thirds of the $18.7 billion in tax breaks in the House energy bill, covering 10 years, was aimed at helping natural gas, coal, and oil development. An attempt to strip the reduction language failed 171-251. [HR 6, Vote #142, 4/11/03; Associated Press, 4/11/03; Houston Chronicle, 4/12/03]
Allen Voted For Moratorium On Oil Drilling Off California Coast. In 2002, Allen voted for a one-year ban on the development of 36 oil leases off the Central California coast. Former President George Bush in 1990 put a 10-year moratorium on new leasing in federal waters off California, and President Bill Clinton in 1998 extended that moratorium, which did not apply to the 36 federal leases. The moratorium amendment passed 252-172. [HR 5093, Vote #315, 7/17/02; San Francisco Chronicle, 7/18/02; San Luis Obispo Tribune, 7/18/02]
COLLINS/BUSH/MCCAIN POSITION: For More of the Same
Bush Calls for End to Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling, New York Times, 6/18/08
"President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling and open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, asserting that those steps and others would lower gasoline prices and ‘strengthen our national security'. ... Mr. Bush sought to take full political advantage of soaring fuel prices by portraying Republican lawmakers as imaginative and forward-looking and the Democratic majority in Congress as obstructionists on energy policy." [New York Times, 6/18/2008]
McCain's speech in Houston, New York Times, 6/17/07
"As for offshore drilling, it's safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston. Yet for reasons that become less convincing with every rise in the price of foreign oil, the federal government discourages offshore production.... We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States. But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. And I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use." [McCain speech text in Houston, New York Times, 6/17/08]
Susan Collins' Record
Susan Collins Supported Drilling for Oil in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2001, Senator Collins voted to kill an amendment offered by Senator Bill Nelson [D-FL] to prohibit oil drilling in a 1.5 million acre region in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida coast. Opponents of the amendment pointed out that the area in question is technically not in Florida waters. [Vote 231, 7/12/01, Passed, 67-33]
Senator Collins Disagreed With The League of Conservation Voters. "In early 2001, the Bush administration appeared poised to move forward with a controversial oil and gas leasing program off the east coast of the Gulf of Mexico, known as Lease Sale 181. Environmentalists contended that the routine pollution associated with offshore drilling-not to mention the threat of a deep-water oil spill-could do irreparable damage to Florida's unique and fragile coastline, the vacation and recreation destination for millions of Americans. After the House voted overwhelmingly to prohibit oil and gas leasing off Florida's coast (House Vote #5), the Interior Department proposed canceling a large part of Lease Sale 181 while still allowing some new leases in the eastern Gulf that may encroach on sensitive shorelines. The plan would offer new oil and gas leases in a 1.47-million-acre area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico-scaled back from the 6-million-acre area originally proposed." [HR 2217, 7/12/01, #231; www.LCV.org]
Susan Collins Voted to Drill in Gulf of Mexico; Olympia Snowe Only Republican to Vote Against. In 2006, Senator Collins voted for passage of the bill that would authorize drilling in about 8.3 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including about 2.5 million acres within a section of the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as "Lease Area 181," and direct a portion of the drilling proceeds to states for coastal restoration. Senator Snowe was the only Republican to vote against drilling. [Vote 219, 8/1/06, S. 3711 Passed 71-25, CQ, 8/1/06]
Susan Collins Twice Voted for Cloture on Bill to Drill in Gulf of Mexico; Olympia Snowe Only Republican to Vote Against. In 2006, Collins voted for the motion to invoke cloture on the bill that would authorize drilling in about 8.3 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including about 2.5 million acres within a section of the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as "Lease Area 181," and direct a portion of the drilling proceeds to states for coastal restoration. [Vote 218, 7/31/06, S. 3711 Cloture Agreed to 72-23, CQ, 7/31/06; Vote 217, 7/26/06, cloture motion agreed to 86-12]
Major environmental groups agree with Obama and Allen:
Major environmental groups oppose offshore drilling, LA Times, 6/18/08:
Major environmental groups, as well as McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, argued that renewed off-shore drilling would not increase supplies or lower fuel prices for years. They warned that new drilling off California and other states raised the risk of pollution near fragile wetlands and beaches, as well as important fishing and tourist areas.
"Drilling in protected areas offshore won't solve our energy needs in the short term and in the long term will increase the threat of global warming," said Gene Karpinski, president of the nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters.
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, also slammed the proposal. "Rather than offering consumers real relief from skyrocketing energy prices, Sen. McCain's plan would merely pad Big Oil's bottom line while putting thousands of miles of pristine beaches and coastline at risk," he said. [Los Angeles Times, 6/18/08]
