House OKs oil drilling ban off Atlantic, Pacific coasts

Bills come amid court challenges to plans to expand offshore drilling

WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation Wednesday to permanently bar drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and extend a moratorium on drilling off Florida’s west coast.

Lawmakers approved the Atlantic and Pacific measure 238-189; a bill to block drilling in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida was approved 248-180.

Coastal lawmakers from both parties said the bills would protect U.S. coasts from drilling that can pollute crucial waters and lead to disasters, such as the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Opponents, mostly Republicans, said the bills undercut domestic energy security and limit thousands of job opportunities.

The bills head to the Republican-controlled Senate, where action is unlikely.

They come as the Trump administration is reevaluating a plan to sharply expand offshore drilling amid a series of court challenges.

Governors and lawmakers from Republican- and Democratic-leaning states strongly oppose expanded drilling. A federal judge in March ruled against President Donald Trump’s executive order to open the Arctic Ocean and parts of the Atlantic to broader oil and gas development, saying Trump had exceeded his authority.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said officials are likely to wait for the court cases to be resolved before proceeding with offshore drilling.

Even so, lawmakers who oppose drilling said a legislative fix is needed.

“If we don’t act, drilling rigs could soon appear on our beaches,” said Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., lead sponsor of the bicoastal drilling ban. “The Low Country (near Charleston, South Carolina) is a force to be reckoned with, and we stand firm in our opposition to drilling off our shoreline,” Cunningham said.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, denounced the “liberal legislation aimed at derailing our domestic energy production and strong economy.” The Housepassed bill would stifle development of the nation’s abundant fossil fuel resources, increase reliance on foreign countries and “jeopardize unprecedented economic growth seen in recent years,” Bishop said.

Bishop and other Republicans touted an alternate bill that would boost drilling on federal lands and offshore.