Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
A couple of weeks ago, the Senate "easily" beat back a proposal by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) to open the coast of Virginia to drilling for natural gas.
My what a difference a year makes! It seems like just yesterday that we were battling one bad proposal to open our coasts to offshore drilling after another.
The reality is that it was last summer, and conservationists ultimately had to agree to a deal that let the oil industry drill in a new part of the Gulf of Mexico as the price for protecting the moratorium that banned new drilling off the remainder of our coasts. Our allies in Congress just didn't have the votes to beat former Rep. Richard Pombo and his oil industry cronies.
So Ocean Champions banded together with a bunch of other environmental political organizations and sent Rep. Pombo home from Congress. We also helped elect new members who are good on the oceans, and defended our incumbent allies.
As a result, we've got a Congress that not only "easily" beats bills like Warner's, but is actually poised to push through positive legislation for the oceans (see the next post).
A year ago, we were scratching and clawing just to hold on to past victories. Today, we have senators from places like Minnesota -- Minnesota! -- professing their interest in the oceans and asking how they can help.
Here's the story on the Virginia bill for those who want to see just how far we've come.
Still think elections don't make a difference?