Pelosi Backs Down on Drilling Vote
By Mark Impomeni
Aug 12th 2008 9:45PM
Filed Under:eHouse, Democrats, Breaking News, Nancy Pelosi, Energy
After weeks of refusing to allow a vote in the House of Representatives on drilling for new domestic sources of oil, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated today that she may indeed finally allow a vote on the measure. Republicans have been holed up in the House chamber, conducting a protest session of the House and calling on Pelosi to call the House back into session to vote on drilling. Some Democrats have also been signaling that they would like an opportunity to vote on drilling as well. Faced with growing pressure from the right and the center on an issue supported by more than 70% of Americans in some polls, Pelosi had no choice but to give in to Republican-led demands for a vote.
"They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas. We can do that. We can have a vote on that.
But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and is not just a hoax on them."
Last week, Pelosi told ABC News that Republicans would have to, "use their imagination," in order to figure out a way to get a vote. Republicans did just that, continuing the ad hoc floor protest for more than a week after the House officially recessed for the month of August. Now it appears that their creativity, and the good press they have been receiving for their efforts are about to pay off.
But Republicans are not yet satisfied with the Speaker's about face on the drilling vote. They want her to call the House back into session now to vote on the measure, not wait until August. House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement in reaction to Pelosi , challenging her to put her actions where her rhetoric is.
"If Speaker Pelosi is truly sincere about having a vote...she should use her power as Speaker to call Congress back into session immediately and schedule a vote on the American Energy Act.
Our message to Speaker Pelosi is very simple: we are ready to vote on more energy production and lower gas prices right now, and we should not wait one more day to begin giving the American people the relief they expect and deserve."
The irony of this debate is that the Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling expires at the end of September, unless Democrats vote to extend it. So, Democrats don't really have to take a vote in order to allow new drilling to go forward. But the Republicans have played their hand so skillfully on this issue, that they appear poised to score a major political victory just as the nation's attention begins to turn to the November elections. When a large majority of Americans demand action on an issue, they usually get their way; and they tend to punish those who stood in the way. Democrats are slowly becoming aware of their vulnerability on the drilling issue and may find scheduling a vote and limiting the political damage already done to them more palatable than driving voters into the arms of waiting Republicans.
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