A bipartisan bill was introduced today by Virginia Congressmen Bob Goodlatte, Glenn Nye, Robert Wittman, Rick Boucher, Frank Wolf, Tom Perriello, Eric Cantor and Randy Forbes to take legislative action to move forward with Lease Sale 220, an oil and natural gas lease sale off Virginia's coast.

This sale was originally scheduled for 2011, but put on hold by the Interior Department.

We commend this bipartisan effort to allow oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters offshore Virginia, a policy that more than two in three citizens of the Commonwealth support.

Virginians-along with their governor, both of their Democratic senators, much of the congressional delegation and the city council of Virginia Beach, off which much of the development would take place-understand that offshore leasing... more »

The Richmond Times-Dispatch today published a clear and cogent argument for oil and natural gas development off Virginia's coast.

In an editorial titled "Both-And," the newspaper's editors touch on the most important issues that remain to be resolved before Gov. Bob McDonnell can realize his concept of making Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast:

• The Obama administration needs to hold a lease sale offering a designated portion Virginia's offshore area to energy companies for drilling;

• Congress needs to enact legislation to permit revenue sharing from energy development with Virginia; and

• "Ideologues on both the left and right" must move away from the notion that drilling is "an either-or proposition--either we drill offshore, or we pursue renewable alternatives. It's a false... more »

Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar yesterday to request that Atlantic offshore drilling move forward in the 2010-2015 leasing plan.

Under the plan, a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf about 50 miles off Virginia's coast would be offered for oil and natural gas development in 2011. Recently, however, Sec. Salazar told reporters that he was planning to roll the 2010-2015 plan into the 2012-2017 plan, which could signal a delay.

Cantor reports in a news release that he is "hopeful" the administration will open the Lease Sale 220 to bidders as soon as possible, citing the benefits of oil and natural gas development to Virginia's economy:

"During the last comment period conducted by MMS, nearly 8 in 10 Virginians expressed support for some form... more »