House to vote on offshore drilling Tuesday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.

The package proposed by Democrats would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles (80 and 160 km) off their shores. Areas more than 100 miles from the coast would be completely open to oil exploration.

Until recently, Democratic leaders in Congress strongly opposed lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling, saying drilling would have only a small impact on gasoline prices in the immediate future.

But as gasoline prices rose to levels above $4 a gallon this summer, public opinion shifted in favor of offshore drilling. Republicans made removing the ban on drilling a key campaign issue for their party in this election year.

With the moratorium facing expiration on September 30 and voter sentiment changing, Democrats supported repealing the ban as part of a larger energy package.

House Republicans, however, strongly protested the Democrats' package calling the bill a "sham" and a "hoax" that seems to promote offshore drilling, but would do little to expand domestic production.

Opponents of the bill say states will not want to open their coasts to drilling without a revenue-sharing plan. Others argue that by requiring drilling to be at least 50 miles from the shore closes off a great deal of the outer continental shelf where oil may be located.

Democrats countered that their package would open 319 million acres to 404 million acres off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling.

"The choice on the floor today is the status quo that is preferred by Big Oil...or a change for the future to take our country in a new direction," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Tuesday.

"Republicans must set aside their drill only mentality and embrace the provisions of this legislation, which is balanced, which is comprehensive, which respects the needs of the consumer, She added."

Conservation groups blasted the House bill, however, for not respecting the environment.

"As it stands, the clean energy provisions in this bill are dwarfed by the push for outdated, dirty and expensive energy," said Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke.

Later this week, the Senate is also expected to take up energy legislation that would expand offshore drilling, but not as much as the House. Both chambers would have to reconcile differences between their bills before a final energy package could be sent to the White House to be signed into law.

Time is running out for lawmakers to pass legislation as Congress is scheduled to adjourn on September 26.

Other provisions in the House energy package include:

-Selling 70 million barrels of light crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to be replaced with heavy crude oil.

-Offering renewable energy and efficiency tax credits that would be funded by repealing some tax breaks for the oil industry.

-Allowing oil shale development in Utah and Colorado, if the states approve.

(Additional reporting by Tom Doggett and Richard Cowan)