Reid plan splits Dems

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has split the Democratic front opposed to drilling with a plan that would open new areas for exploration.

Reid’s proposal was meant to insulate Senate Democratic candidates from public anger over gas prices. Instead, it has created a divide with liberal colleagues and drawn fire from senior House Democrats.

{mosads}A group of influential Senate and House Democrats has sided with environmental groups against Reid to call exploration in new areas unnecessary.

The legislation, drafted by Reid and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), would open nearly a billion new acres off the coast of Alaska to study for drilling. It would also dramatically accelerate oil leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico.

“I am unalterably opposed to drilling,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, who cited a massive oil spill that closed nearly 100 miles of the Mississippi River last week.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) urged Reid to be “very careful about drilling off the coast of Alaska.”

Reid could also face resistance from other Democrats who oppose drilling off Alaska’s shores.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), for example, has sponsored legislation to ban drilling in the North Aleutian Basin, an area that Republicans have already opened to oil leasing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill that lawmakers should focus on the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope instead of offshore.

“There are tens of millions of barrels in the reserve. If you want oil in Alaska, drill there,” she said.

Some Democrats are irked that Senate leaders haven’t shown stronger resolve in the face of Republican attacks that attempt to blame opponents of offshore drilling for higher gas prices.

“Some people are just scared of the accusation that not leasing more acres has an impact on oil prices,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, a senior Democrat from Oregon. “It just doesn’t.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, echoed Pelosi.

{mospagebreak}“I don’t object to oil companies doing more drilling where they already have leases,” said Waxman.

“I don’t think any of the proposals to open more areas for oil drilling off the coast of our country makes a lot of sense, because it will be years before we see any oil from these places,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers say the Reid-Bingaman proposal seems to be gaining momentum, though these same sources questioned whether Pelosi would schedule it for a vote in the House.

The provision has attracted support from powerful liberals such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works panel.

{mosads}But Pelosi has balked at scheduling any drilling legislation for a regular floor vote because that would give Republicans an opportunity to force vulnerable Democratic incumbents to vote on difficult amendments.

Votes against expanded drilling would open Democrats to accusations that they had blocked efforts to lower record gas prices. Votes for Republican amendments to encourage more drilling, however, would anger environmental activists.

Before reaching the House, the proposal must pass the Senate, where it is caught in a procedural dispute.

Reid has suggested voting on his legislation and a Republican alternative in the form of amendments to a pending oil speculation bill.

Reid’s office did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Republicans are demanding votes on several amendments and have pledged to block Democrats from moving to other issues until drilling receives floor votes.

Environmental activists have panned Reid’s suggestion that more of Alaska’s waters should be studied for oil drilling.

“We truly believe drilling off the icy shores of Alaska is a bad idea,” said Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, who said that sea ice increases the chances of an accident in the Arctic. “We’ve been long and vocal opponents of offshore development in the Arctic Ocean.”

Eleanor Huffines, Alaska director for The Wilderness Society, urged Senate Democrats to forget about offshore drilling and concentrate instead on tax credits for renewable energy development and other ideas.

“We think looking for additional oil and gas leasing will do nothing to lower the price of gas,” said Huffines.

Bill Wicker, spokesman for the Energy and Natural Resources panel, said Bingaman supports tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

But he said the Reid-Bingaman proposal could significantly increase domestic oil production.

Specifically, the proposal would set up planning areas covering nearly 1 billion acres off the Alaskan coast with access to an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of oil.

The bill would also accelerate leasing by requiring the government to offer lease sales more frequently. It would also eliminate some royalty relief for Outer Continental Shelf leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

Wicker acknowledged environmentalists’ criticism that opening more territory would have little immediate impact on gas prices.

“We never presented this as going to have an immediate impact on lowering the price of gasoline,” he said.