Within the next few days, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce his decision on America's offshore leasing program. In case you haven't been following this story closely, here's some background information.

• A few months ago, a federal court ordered the Interior Department (DOI) to re-examine its current 2007-2012 five-year offshore leasing plan, saying that the environmental impact analysis was insufficient. The court allowed Gulf of Mexico leasing to continue, but put Alaskan leasing on hold.

• Lease Sale 220, which involves the leasing of acreage 50 miles off Virginia's coast, is contained in the disputed plan and is scheduled for 2011. Last week Liz Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), said the Virginia lease sale also is being re-evaluated.

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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 »