Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., today called for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to incorporate his Virginia Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Energy Production Act in pending offshore energy legislation this week.
“Outer Continental Shelf production has strong support among Virginians and their political leadership,” Webb wrote the Committee’s Chairman and Ranking Member. “I look forward to working with you to ensure that all of Virginia’s OCS energy resources are developed in a timely fashion, through a fair distribution of revenues between the federal and state government, and in an environmentally sound manner.”
In his letter, Webb also urged the Committee to expand revenue sharing provisions beyond oil and gas, to include marine renewable technologies. He also emphasized the importance of creating a more equitable OCS map for Virginia, and ensuring those resources are included in the Department of Interior’s energy production plan.
Webb has long been a proponent of opening Virginia’s outer continental shelf to oil and natural gas exploration as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing our nation’s energy needs. In 2008, he cosponsored legislation with then-Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) to allow the Commonwealth to conduct energy exploration activities in the outer continental shelf with revenue-sharing provisions. Earlier this month Senators Webb and Mark Warner introduced the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011.
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Chris Graham
