Pressure from voters for Congress to do something about rising oil prices has a growing number of Senate Democrats acknowledging that they would consider lifting a ban on new offshore drilling.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who had adamantly opposed such drilling, is among those warming to the idea. He says any exploration would have to be far from the coast and that the oil produced would be used in the United States, not abroad.
Less than a month ago in the Senate, the Democrat assailed supporters of offshore drilling, citing a federal study that suggested it would not make any "appreciable difference in the price of gas until 2030."
And last year, Brown opposed an amendment to an energy bill that would have allowed Virginia to ask the federal government for permission to search for oil and natural gas off the coast. The amendment was defeated 44-43.
Sen. George V. Voinovich said yesterday that the combination of $4-per-gallon gas prices and rising voter support for more drilling could pave the way for a compromise that would have been unthinkable a year ago.
The Ohio Republican predicted that Congress will pass a comprehensive bill this year to clear the way for drilling off U.S. coasts while providing more money to develop cleaner energy sources.
"I think that all of us realize that we have got to show the American people that we're working together on something," Voinovich said. "We have to get some things done around here, get away from this partisanship and get some things done in the best interest of the country."
Voinovich said that if the Senate could agree on a bill that would boost oil supplies while reducing consumer demand for gasoline, it would "send a signal across the world that the U.S. has gotten off its you-know-what and understands the importance of domestic supply of oil."
To win Senate passage, Voinovich said, a bill could not include opening up exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Voinovich said he favors drilling in the refuge but acknowledged that "it's a lightning-rod issue" with Democrats and environmentalists. Brown, for example, remains opposed to drilling there.
Voinovich declined to say whether he is part of a bipartisan group of senators seeking a compromise on oil exploration and federal aid for renewable energies. But it is clear that some Democrats are showing a greater willingness to permit more drilling.
"I would say this is one of those difficult times for a political party when their ideology leads them into direct conflict with the facts," said Ted Hollingsworth, a Republican lobbyist and a former Voinovich aide.
Environmentalists have reacted with alarm to the idea of ending a 1981 federal moratorium on drilling offshore, primarily along the coasts of California and Florida. The ban grew out of a 1969 disaster off Santa Barbara when 3 million gallons of crude oil from an offshore platform covered 35 miles of coastline.
They argue that it would take years for new platforms to produce oil and that the U.S. should be working to change its oil-based economy to renewable energies.
"The drive to drill is like an obese man saying he is going to lose weight by eating more," said Dan Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress, a research group in Washington.
Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a nonprofit environmental group in Washington, said, "Environmentalists are aghast that high gasoline prices might be a pretext for reversing decades of national policy.
"The evidence is pretty clear that none of these drilling schemes would have any near-term impact on gasoline supply or prices. It is a concern if Democrats start shifting their positions solely in response to polls."
That prompted Voinovich to reply that "Frank and his people fail to recognize the importance of our economy and our energy needs."
"They all must be very rich," he said of environmental leaders, because "they sure don't understand middle-class people and seniors who are getting killed because of energy costs."
Republicans see drilling as an issue that works in their favor. Next month, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, will lead a group of House Republicans to Alaska on what he is calling the "American Energy Tour." The trip is being funded by the White House.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who opposed offshore exploration during his 2000 presidential campaign, now supports opening up the coasts to exploration. Democrat Barack Obama is opposed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said yesterday that "this call for drilling in areas that are protected is a hoax, an absolute hoax on the part of the Republicans and this administration."
The federal government estimates that 89 billion barrels of oil could be off the East, West and Gulf coasts. The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels of oil every day.
Dispatch Washington bureau chief Jonathan Riskind contributed to this story.
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