WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today praised President Bush for lifting the executive ban on offshore drilling.  

“President Bush is to be commended for taking a critical step to insure an increased domestic energy supply for America,” Senator Inhofe said. “Democrats in Congress must stop blocking America’s access to the resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). With gas prices continuing to skyrocket, suffering Americans are demanding Congress allow more domestic energy production.  

“Recent polling has shown 67 percent of the American people now support offshore drilling, with just 18 percent opposed. Congress should follow the President’s lead and lift the moratoriums on domestic energy exploration. Currently, 85 percent of the OCS --an estimated 19 billion barrels of recoverable oil -- is off limits. At today’s import levels, this is the equivalent of 35 years of imports from Saudi Arabia. No country on earth has exploration technology as advanced and environmentally sound as ours.  Even so, Democrats oppose offshore production based upon misleading environmental grounds. Major spills from drilling and production platforms are nearly non-existent.  Both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which were massive Category 5's, plowed through the heart of Gulf oil production just four weeks apart, yet no major spills occurred.”  

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