Energy on Monday

This seems like very good news to me...AP News Alert:

WASHINGTON (AP) White House: President Bush to lift executive ban on offshore drilling.

Let's get to it...

I suspect we'll be hearing more on the subject...

UPDATE 1: Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner:

“Only Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership stand in the way of responsible deepwater oil and gas exploration to help reduce gas prices. As American families and small businesses face record prices at the pump, they are counting on their leaders in Congress to work together on reforms to help reduce fuel costs. Republicans stand ready to work with the Democratic Majority to bring an end to this outdated ban so we can reduce our nation’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy, empower states and localities to make decisions regarding energy exploration, and create thousands of good-paying jobs here at home.

“Lifting the ban is a key part of the House Republicans’ ‘all of the above’ energy plan to lower fuel costs. Enacting this plan, which would increase production of American energy, improve energy efficiency and conservation, and encourage investment in groundbreaking research in advanced alternative and renewable energy technologies, will signal to the rest of the world that America will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to bring down fuel costs. It is time for the Democratic leadership to heed the American people’s calls by lifting the ban on deep ocean energy exploration and allowing a vote on the GOP’s ‘all of the above’ plan to help lower gas prices.”

UPDATE 2: Institute for Energy Research:

“The president is eliminating one of the largest barriers standing in the way of new energy supplies, but the biggest one still remains, and it lies in the hands of the Congress,” Pyle said. “Fortunately, we appear to be nearing the end of nearly three decades of short-sighted, one-size-fits-all policies that restrict access to domestic supplies despite explosive global demand. The lack of a commonsense offshore energy policy has placed this country in economic and strategic peril. Ending these bans will send a strong signal to the rest of the world that America is finally getting serious about producing more of its own energy.”

Federal law has prohibited American energy production on most of the OCS since 1982. With President Bush’s rescinding of the executive moratorium today, the only ban that remains is known as the Congressional Moratorium. It comes in the form of an annual appropriations rider in Congress, which expires – and must be renewed – every year. Congress has enacted OCS energy bans every year since 1981.

**Unless the Congress and the president approve a new appropriations rider, the Congressional ban will expire on September 30th – 78 days from today – at the end of the federal FY2008 fiscal year.**

NOTE: The only comprehensive offshore energy reform measure to pass either chamber of the Congress was known as the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, which the House of Representatives approved in 2006. Had it been enacted into law, the Act would have implemented a flexible framework in which coastal states had complete authority over the first 100 miles off their shores and the federal government had authority to produce energy for its consumers in the deep waters beyond.