Report: House leadership looks to schedule vote on oil exports

House leadership is looking to schedule a vote on a measure lifting the ban on crude oil exports within the next few weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will announce the effort during an energy policy speech on Tuesday in Houston. 

{mosads}“If there was ever a time to lift the oil export ban, it’s now,” McCarthy will say, according to the newspaper. “Lifting the oil export ban will not only help our economy, it will also bolster our geopolitical standing.”

Lawmakers have redoubled their efforts to pass a bill lifting the 40-year-old export ban this session. A Senate panel approved an export bill in August, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to do the same on Thursday. 

“It is time for our energy policies to catch up to our new era of abundance,” the committee’s chairman, Fred Upton (R-Mich.), said in a Monday statement.

The oil industry supports ending the ban, saying it would help consumers and bolster the American oil sector. Some refiners and green groups, however, have warned that more exports could hurt gas prices and contribute to climate change.  

Republican lawmakers and supporters of lifting the ban have been bullish on their chances of overturning it this session. Though most Democrats oppose the effort, some have said they’re willing to compromise on the issue, which has led supporters to pitch proposals doing just that.