Mike Shuster, left, and Lisa Zaccaglini, both of Sharon Springs, N.Y., hold signs during a rally against hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of the state, at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Monday, April 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) (Associated Press)
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This is one of Chesapeake Energy's hydraulic fracturing operations over the Eagle Ford shale formation near Carrizo Springs, Texas. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a practice used to coax natural gas and petroleum from rock formations like shale. The head of the well is the red, vertical extension on the bottom right corner. JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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Dust permeates the air at a Chesapeake Energy Co. fracking operation at a well site near Carrizo Springs, Texas Thursday May 5, 2011. The site is over the Eagle Ford shale formation where oil and gas is being extracted in the area. Fracking is also known as hydraulic fracturing. JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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An oil worker walks pass the manifold (right) and frac pumps (left) at a Chesapeake Energy hydraulic fracturing operation near Carrizo Springs, Texas Thursday May 5, 2011. Hydraulic fracturing is a method of removing oil and gas from rock formations such as the Eagle Ford shale formation in south central Texas. JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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A natural gas well operated by Northeast Natural Energy on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. The well is the subject of a dispute over a drilling ban recently enacted by the city of Morgantown, which is directly across the Monongahela River from the well. (AP Photo/David Smith) (Associated Press)
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Helge Lund (left), CEO of Norwegian energy company Statoil, speaks with Statoil Joint Venture Manager Cesar Alvarez (facing away) and Talisman Energy Frac Specialist Nabila Larsen (right) at a Talisman Energy fracking site near Cotulla, Texas. Statoil is working with Talisman energy to develop oil and gas ventures in the Eagle Ford shale formation in south central Texas. (Wednesday September 7, 2011) JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS (jdavenport@express-news.net) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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An oilfield employee works at a Talisman Energy fracking site near Cotulla, Texas. Talisman Energy is working with Norwegian energy company Statoil to extract oil and gas from the Eagle Ford shale formation in south central Texas. (Wednesday September 7, 2011) JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS/jdavenport@express-news.net (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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Sandstone is washed and tumbled and put through a series of screens and sieves Wednesday August 31, 2011 until it is broken down into sand particles at the Frac Tech Services sand mining operation near Brady, Texas. Sand from the mine is being used nationwide by drilling companies using the hydraulic fracturing process. JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
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Protestors scale a shale gas rig at Banks, near Southport, England bringing a halt to work at the Cuadrilla Resources site Wednesday Nov. 2 , 2011. Cuadrilla Resources, which is drilling for gas in northwestern England, said Wednesday that independent experts concluded that the tremors were due to an unusual combination of geology and operations, and were unlikely to happen again. The company said local geology would limit any future seismic events to around magnitude 3 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 1 measured 2.3 on the Richter scale. Local campaigners have mounted a "Frack Off" campaign to oppose the drilling technique that cracks open rock layers to free natural gas. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE (Associated Press)
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In western New York state near the Pennsylvania border, many signs can be found expressing support for both sides in the hydraulic fracturing debate. (August 2011)
BILL MONTGOMERY : CHRONICLE (staff)
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FILE - In this April 22, 2008 file photo, a natural gas well pad sits in front of the Roan Plateau near Rifle, Co. The director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, David Neslin, said Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, that requiring drilling companies to publicly disclose what chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing is only one tool for protecting public health and the environment. The comment was made during a hearing regarding a proposal to require public disclosures of fracking fluids that aren't trade secrets. More than 100 people packed the hearing. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (Associated Press)
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FILE- In this photograph taken April 15, 2009, an unidentified worker steps through the maze of hoses being used at a remote fracking site being run by Halliburton for natural-gas producer Williams in Rulison, Colo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday Dec. 8, 2011 in Wyoming, for the first time that fracking - a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells - may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (Associated Press)
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In this July 27, 2011 photo, Range Resources workers stand near the rig that drills into the shale at a well site in Washington, Pa. The company is one of many drilling and "fracking" in the area to release natural gas. The three different diameters of pipe at bottom are the casing tubings that each go inside the other to line the well. Experts say Marcellus Shale natural gas production is expected to keep rising in 2012, yet landowners may find that signing lease deals isn't as easy as in years past. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Associated Press)
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In this July 27, 2011 photo, Range Resources site manager Don Robinson stands near the well head by the drill that goes into the shale at a well site in Washington, Pa. The company is one of many drilling and "fracking" in the area to release natural gas. Experts say Marcellus Shale natural gas production is expected to keep rising in 2012, yet landowners may find that signing lease deals isn't as easy as in years past. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Associated Press)
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NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: Opponents of hydraulic fracturing in New York state attend a news conference and rally against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, on January 11, 2012 in New York City. The event, which was held on the steps of City Hall, called for an end to the controversial gas drilling method as environmental groups increasingly warn about contamination of the state's aquifers that could poison its drinking water. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 11: New York Senator Tony Avella speaks at a news conference and rally against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, in New York State on January 11, 2012 in New York City. The event, which was held on the steps of City Hall, called for an end to the controversial gas drilling method as environmental groups increasingly warn about contamination of the state's aquifers that could poison its drinking water. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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In this photo made on Wednesday, July 27, 2011, a worker walks through a maze of pies connecting storage tanks and pumps in the hydraulic fracturing process in the Marcellus Shale layer to release natural gas was underway at a Range Resources site in Claysville, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Associated Press)
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In this photo made on Wednesday, July 27, 2011, a worker shovels the powder used to make a mixture with water used in the hydraulic fracturing process in the Marcellus Shale layer to release natural gas b at a Range Resources site where the process was underway in Claysville, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Associated Press)
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Daniel Morrissey of Latham leads anti-fracking demonstrators organized by Occupy Albany protest in front of the DEC building in Albany,NY Thursday, Jan.12, 2012. ( Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) (Albany Times Union)
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Abram Loeb of Afton dressed in a decontamination suit joins anti-fracking demonstrators organized by Occupy Albany protest in front of the DEC building in Albany,NY Thursday, Jan.12, 2012. ( Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) (Albany Times Union)
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House endorsed a plan Thursday to vastly expand oil and gas drilling off the nation’s coasts to help pay for a $260 billion transportation bill.
The legislation has no chance of passing the Senate and faces a White House veto. But for Republicans, the 237-187 vote showed they’re willing to go further to boost U.S. energy production than President Barack Obama. Obama lately has embraced increased oil and gas production on the campaign trail, and has touted how the U.S. in recent years has produced record amounts of oil and natural gas.
“The bill we are considering … is an action plan that clearly contrasts President Obama’s anti-energy policies with the pro-energy, pro-American jobs policies of Republicans,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
The legislation, which 21 Republicans voted against and 21 Democrats voted for, would open the eastern Gulf of Mexico off Florida and areas off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling, lift a ban on drilling in a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and order leases to be offered for Western oil shale.
Obama has said he would not pursue drilling off the Pacific and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and has pushed back offering leases in the Atlantic until at least 2017.
The measure also would force the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline within a month, which Obama recently rejected, saying there wasn’t enough time for an adequate environmental review.
Democrats argued that the bill amounted to a gift for an oil industry that was headed nowhere and would pay only a fraction of the cost of the transportation bill. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the offshore drilling portions alone would bring in $4.3 billion between 2013-2022, a number Republicans say is underestimated.
It was also unclear whether the energy provisions, which were added as a sweetener to get tea partiers behind the expensive transportation bill, will help save the measure. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, put off action on the legislation until after next week’s congressional recess when it became clear even his own party wasn’t enthusiastic about it.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, echoing the sentiments of other Democrats, said this week that the additional drilling provided “phantom revenue.”
“We know that these places are not going to be developed in the near-term at all,” Salazar said at a congressional hearing Wednesday on his agency’s budget. “It will not fund the transportation needs of the United States of America.”
