Dems’ Drill Bill in House comes up dry as parties spar over lifting offshore drilling ban

(Photo of Texas oil rig from Flickr and photographer Lizzie Vengeance/Lizzie Phillips )

Washington Report: House Democrats tried Thursday to pass a bill that urges oil companies to speed up exploration where they have current leases. Despite support from 26 Republicans, the bill failed to get the two-thirds vote it needed under expedited rules – 11 oil patch Dems voted against it. This bill was the Dem response to GOP efforts in both chambers to relax the ban on offshore drilling and paint Democrats as blocking oil exploration here, hence keeping gas prices high. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has introduced a bill, supported by several dozens fellow Republicans, to let states decide whether to lease in federal waters and then get a cut of the take. But it looks like they won’t be able to muster the votes in either house to end the ban on offshore drilling. A vote of the Congress is needed to end the ban, despite President Bush’s announcement. (Source: E&E News PM)