• “In a matter of months, Republicans turned offshore oil drilling … into political gold as anger over high gasoline prices made voters receptive to calls for more domestic energy production.”

• “Sensing a Democratic weakness to be further exploited, [Republicans] vowed to press in the next Congress for more of the GOP energy agenda…”

• “House Republicans demanded -- even in the darkened House chamber during Congress' August recess -- for a vote on offshore drilling.”

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Analysis: Democrats absorb a defeat on drilling

WASHINGTON – For Democratic leaders, it's a striking defeat as they agree to allow expanded offshore drilling in waters they once called sacrosanct, giving Republicans a rare victory on energy policy six weeks before the election.

In a matter of months, Republicans turned offshore oil drilling from a non-issue – even one feared as a political liability by many Republicans in Congress – into political gold as anger over high gasoline prices made voters receptive to calls for more domestic energy production.

After vowing to protect a quarter-century ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Democrats on Wednesday moved through the House a stopgap spending bill that allows the offshore drilling moratorium – approved each year by Congress for the last 26 years – to expire at the end of this month.

“It's a very big step forward,” said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

“Democrats have finally recognized the significance of this energy crisis,” gloated Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 ranking Republican.

Sensing a Democratic weakness to be further exploited, they vowed to press in the next Congress for more of the GOP energy agenda including a sharing of royalties from offshore drilling with states – a necessary carrot to get states to go along with opening waters off their shores to oil and gas companies.

It was not long ago that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime ardent defender of the drilling bans along each coast including her home state of California, called GOP demands for lifting the federal offshore drilling moratoria a “hoax” that should be dismissed out of hand.

Lifting the ban won't produce any more oil for 7 to 10 years, reflecting accurately the views of many energy experts, she argued.

But Republicans knew they had an issue that was resonating with voters when they began their drumbeat for offshore drilling last summer – just as Democrats and Republicans alike were struggling to find an answer to the growing anger back home over having to pay up to $100 for a tank of gasoline. Polls were showing a shift toward greater support for more domestic energy production – even among liberals who traditionally have been the most ardent defenders of the drilling bans that covered more than 80 percent of federal coastal waters from New England to the Pacific Northwest.

House Republicans demanded – even in the darkened House chamber during Congress' August recess – for a vote on offshore drilling. And GOP presidential nominee John McCain pressed the call for offshore drilling, arguing the 18 billion barrels of oil beneath the 200-mile Outer Continental Shelf could help America reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

“Drill, baby, drill,” came the chant at the GOP convention.

Barack Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee, sensed the shift in attitude. He endorsed limited offshore drilling – although has never given any specifics – as long as it comes with a broader energy package benefiting alternative energy and efficiency.

Pelosi tried to build a firewall.

She crafted legislation that would have opened all areas beyond 50 miles to drilling, but only if states went along with sharing any of the royalties from the oil to be pumped. It passed the House – and died. Republicans called it a sham since most of the recoverable oil was within the 50-mile protective buffer, and states were unlikely to go along with drilling if there were no cash.

Pelosi tried to put the same language into the spending bill, calling it a “sensible compromise.”

But she said Wednesday that President Bush had made clear he would veto the spending bill if her drilling provision were included “which would have threatened to shut down the government and send a dangerous signal during thee hard economic times and a financial crisis on Wall Street.” So she scrapped the proposal.

But it also was clear Pelosi's measure would have trouble in the Senate. Democrats had no desire for a high-profile political standoff over offshore oil drilling.

Still, the fight over offshore oil is far from over.

“We look forward to addressing these and other pressing issues with new leadership in the White House next year,” said Pelosi in a statement.

And Democrats already are making plans for a counteroffensive. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced legislation Wednesday to protect Georges Bank off New England – an area believed to have significant oil resources – from drilling. More such bills are sure to come.

But even some Republicans seem somewhat astounded by the sudden turnaround over offshore oil and gas development.

Only a few years ago a proposal to simply allow seismic studies in off-limits areas caused an uproar. Last spring, a bill was introduced to explore for natural gas – not oil and no production – 50 miles off Virginia. It got only 47 votes, 43 of them Republicans.

Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee who favors more drilling, tells this story to show how the political tides have shifted.

In the past “we were so frightened at the idea of drilling we were using fancy words like exploration and we would say to ourselves, don't use 'drill', that's bad,” he said. “Just make sure you use this fancy word 'exploration'. It turned out the American people didn't care. ... Drill. Drill. Drill. Now that's all we hear from our American people.”

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