Delegate, Mayor, Sierra Club Oppose Drilling for Oil Off Virginia

Saturday, May 26, 2007

(AP)

Virginia Beach, VA - State Del. Brian J. Moran joined Virginia Beach's mayor, a former city councilman and Sierra Club leaders on Friday in calling on Congress to keep the moratorium on drilling for oil off Virginia's coast.

During a news conference, they raised concerns about the impact offshore drilling could have on Virginia Beach tourism, the environment and global warming.

"We should first work to improve conservation measures and invest in 21st-century renewable energy before offshore drilling for oil," Moran, D-Alexandria, said in a statement. "Americans deserve cleaner, quicker, cheaper and safer energy sources.

"The challenges of our new economy require innovative solutions, not just more of the same fossil fuel dependency," said Moran, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We urge Congress not to remove the moratorium on drilling."

On April 30, the Interior Department announced a major expansion of offshore oil and gas development with proposed lease sales, including 3 million acres in the central Atlantic .

Those acres off Virginia 's coast would require Congress to lift a long-standing drilling moratorium that has covered most ocean waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico for decades. The Democratic-controlled Congress has given no indication it is willing to lift the moratorium.

The plan is pending before Congress during a 60-day public comment period that will conclude July 1.

"Tourism is too vital to the economy of Virginia Beach to lose our beaches to an oil spill," Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said.

The Interior Department's proposal would allow oil and natural gas drilling off Virginia 's coast in 2011. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has supported a more narrow interest in exploratory drilling off Virginia to determine the size of natural gas reserves.

"With the effects of global warming becoming more apparent daily, our coastal communities are the first at risk," said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia Sierra Club.

Peter Schmidt, a former Virginia Beach councilman and former director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, also voiced his opposition to offshore drilling.