McCarthy is open to lifting offshore oil drilling ban

BY JANIE LORBER AND GLENN THRUSH | glenn.thrush@newsday.com

June 19, 2008

WASHINGTON - Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) is breaking with House leadership - and other Long Island Democrats - in saying she would consider lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling as proposed by President George W. Bush yesterday.

The local waters around Long Island have never been a major oil producing zone - but Democratic Reps. Steve Israel, Gary Ackerman and Tim Bishop came out against lifting the 27-year-old moratorium, saying it would pose a national environmental threat.

"We aren't going to drill our way out of this problem," said Ackerman, who represents parts of Queens and the North Shore. "The president is the only oil man I know that lost money in the oil business. And he's trying to come up with an oil policy?"

Bush had long opposed opening offshore areas but reversed his position yesterday, citing escalating gas prices and frustration with Democrats' opposition to drilling in the Arctic.

"There is no excuse for delay," he told reporters in the Rose Garden in a bid to pressure Congress. "Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response."

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) said the ban gives America's economic rivals an unfair advantage. "I don't know of any country in the world that doesn't use its own energy sources," he said. "China is going to be drilling 50 or 60 miles off of Florida in Cuban waters."

McCarthy said she'd consider lifting the offshore drilling moratorium - providing oil companies use fields they already own first. "I happen to believe that all options should be explored," she told Newsday yesterday.

That put McCarthy at odds with House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her party's presumptive nominee, Barack Obama, who were unequivocal in their opposition.

Bush's plan comes at a time when oil companies are raking in unprecedented profits and Long Islanders are facing some of the nation's highest gas prices.

Oil companies are eager to find untapped domestic supplies - but have been frustrated by the ban, which has prevented them from even hunting for underwater deposits near the coast. "Our hands our tied," said Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman at the American Petroleum Institute.

Land off America's coastlines contains an estimated 18 billion barrels of oil and roughly 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Department of Energy.

The Bush proposal represents a second break with his father's 1990 executive order banning coastal exploration. It also puts the White House in lockstep with John McCain, who announced his support for offshore drilling Tuesday.

Rep. Israel (D-Huntington) met with Pelosi yesterday to plot a strategy to fight Bush. "The president is shockingly misinformed," Israel said.