Offshore drilling could also damage efforts to ‘Save Carrier’ at Norfolk

Washington D.C. — Today, Congressman Moran responded to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s statement regarding legislation passed by the General Assembly to divvy up future offshore drilling royalties received by the Commonwealth. Mr. Moran outlined his concerns in a letter to McDonnell last week (included below). In light of the Governor’s statements at the bill signing yesterday, the Congressman made the following remarks:

“I appreciate the Governor’s desire to bring in new transportation dollars, but any projections for offshore drilling revenue are a mirage.

 

“As I stated in my March 5th letter to Governor McDonnell: even under the most optimistic scenario, drilling would not occur for at least another eight years. Because drilling would occur in federal waters, by law all royalties must go to the federal government.

 

“Due to a solid coalition of non-coastal states who believe that offshore drilling royalties belong to all the States, there’s little to no chance the Commonwealth would receive special consideration.

 

“Putting aside the obvious environmental concerns, drilling off Virginia’s coast could also hamper our efforts to ‘Save the Carrier’ at Norfolk. The Navy and Department of Defense are strongly opposed to any activities in the proposed region that would affect training operations. Erecting oil rigs in this zone could add fuel to Florida’s efforts to take our carrier and jeopardize other naval and NASA assets along our coastline.”

March 5, 2010

The Honorable Robert F. McDonnell
Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Governor McDonnell: 

I wanted to follow up on one key issue of concern addressed at the Virginia congressional delegation meeting last week:  offshore oil and gas development. 

While we both share a goal of securing new revenue to address the state’s transportation needs, I would strongly advise against any assumption that oil and gas royalties will be flowing into the state’s treasury.  Regardless of our different positions on the merits of offshore drilling, these facts are immutable.  Lease Sale 220 will not occur before 2011 and will occur exclusively in federal waters at least 50 miles offshore.  Under the most optimistic scenario, drilling will not occur for at least another eight years and any royalties from these operations by law must go to the federal government, not the Commonwealth.  There are no special provisions for revenue sharing with the coastal states.  Efforts in Congress to share royalty revenue with the Atlantic coast states have been rejected repeatedly, most recently in the Senate last April by a vote of 37-60.  There is a bipartisan coalition of non-coastal states that strongly believe that offshore royalties belong to all the States.  

I also believe the assumptions about what the oil and gas might generate through economic activity are grossly overstated and may come at the expense of the fishing, recreational and tourism industries whose livelihoods could be jeopardized.

Perhaps even more significant, the military’s investment in Virginia, which is so critically important to the Commonwealth’s economy, could be jeopardized by offshore drilling.  As a delegation we are united in our effort to block Florida’s efforts to move one of the Navy’s carriers to Mayport.  Support for drilling in the Virginia Capes Operating Area, however, strengthens Florida’s case for moving Navy forces from Virginia to Florida.  “Save the Carrier” resolutions you will see from the General Assembly are utterly meaningless when Virginia is on record as supporting encroachment in a training range strongly opposed by the Defense Department and the Navy.  Support for drilling will undermine the efforts our congressional delegation is making to prevent Florida from taking naval and NASA assets from Virginia. That would be an economic disaster for Virginia, far exceeding even the most optimistic economic assumption on the possible benefits of offshore drilling.

Sincerely,

James P. Moran

Cc:  The Honorable Mark Warner
        The Honorable Jim Webb

http://moran.house.gov/

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