33 DEMS JOIN TO PASS 'DRILL BABY DRILL!'

House Passes Bill Making It Easier to Drill

• Submitted by Asst Natl Dir Mellie B on May 5, 2011 at Patriot Action Network 

By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Dina Cappiello, Associated Press –

Thu May 5, 3:49 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House passed the first of three bills Thursday aimed at speeding up offshore oil and gas drilling a year after the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
In a 266-149 vote that included 33 Democrats in its majority, the House approved a bill that would force the federal government to conduct three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one off the Virginia coast within a year, or by June 2012. Lease sales are the first step in a multi-year process that can culminate in drilling.
The Obama administration had postponed the sales after the massive Gulf oil spill, saying it needed time to conduct more thorough environmental reviews, to account for the blowout's effects on the Gulf ecosystem and to incorporate lessons learned from the disaster.
A major federal investigation into what caused the accident has yet to be released.

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