U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said he will block three bills passed by the House this week that would permanently ban offshore energy production in part of the Gulf of Mexico, along the East and West coasts and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, The News Star reports.
“Democrats are thrusting America’s energy workers into poverty,” Cassidy said in a statement. “These bills will cause countries with poor environmental standards and higher pollution to dominate production and industry. They will increase global emissions and hurt the environment.”
A bill to ban drilling on the eastern side of the Gulf, specifically Florida, passed the Democrat-controlled House on a 248-180 vote. A second measure to ban drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts passed, 238-189. The House approved Thursday a third bill barring drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That bill passed on a 225-193 vote.
There’s already a moratorium on drilling off the Gulf Coast of Florida, but the bill by Republican U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida would make it permanent, a move he says his constituents are in favor of.
Trump signed an executive order in 2017 to start a five-year development plan for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the East Coast, but that was later blocked by a federal judge. Now all three bills head to the Senate, where Cassidy said he will put a hold on the measures as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. Read the full story.
