Gulf spill spreads drilling concerns among Georgia's delegation

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON -- With Georgia's beaches on their minds and their eyes on the potential environmental disaster still unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, some members of Georgia's congressional delegation are having second thoughts about drilling for oil off the state's coast and elsewhere.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Lithonia Democrat, was initially supportive of President Barack Obama's recent plans to expand oil exploration in the Atlantic, including off Georgia.

Now, "I withdraw my support," he said.

"We got the cart before the horse," Johnson said. "Our capability to extract oil at that depth was apparently not matched by our technology to handle a catastrophic incident such as this."

U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a Savannah Democrat, has voted in the past to lift moratoriums on offshore drilling off Georgia and other parts of the Atlantic.

Friday, after touring Louisiana's Gulf Coast, he sounded more reluctant.

"We need to make sure if something is billed as fail-safe, then it actually is fail-safe," Barrow said, referring to the oil industry's claims about the safety of offshore drilling.

Barrow said he hasn't changed his position on offshore drilling. But, he added, "we should not allow offshore drilling unless we utilize technology that prevents a catastrophe like this from happening."

Most of Georgia's Republicans in Congress say they still wholeheartedly endorse more offshore oil exploration. Without more oil, they say, the nation's needs can't be met.

"I support exploring and drilling anywhere we can," said Rep. John Linder, a Lawrenceville Republican. "We need to explore everywhere we think there might be any recoverable oil."

Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, said the disaster, while unfortunate, is not a good reason to stop offshore drilling.

But even some Republicans, who turned the phrase "Drill Here, Drill Now" into a campaign slogan, are sounding more hesitant.

Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah, a longtime supporter of offshore drilling, said the Gulf accident itself hasn't changed his opinion -- but the cause of it ultimately might.

"I think I'm confident enough that the scrutiny that's going to happen after this will answer the question for all of us" whether to expand offshore drilling, Kingston said.

In the wake of the spill, Georgians aren't the only ones in Washington second-guessing recent plans to expand oil exploration.

Thursday, the Interior Department announced it was suspending plans to allow drilling off Virginia, which would have been the first state to see the lifting of a moratorium on drilling on the East Coast. Obama has indicated he wants to wait for the results of a 30-day review of the spill and its causes before deciding on future offshore drilling plans.

A California Democrat, meanwhile, introduced a bill in the U.S. House that would permanently ban new oil and gas exploration off California, Oregon and Washington state.

Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat, said he thinks the ban should apply to the entire country.

"With what is happening now, I do think there should be a moratorium on drilling," Lewis said. "It is never the way to go."

Rep. David Scott, also an Atlanta Democrat, said he supports new regulations, at least.

"Clearly the incident in the Gulf of Mexico has forced us to rethink the regulation and potential expansion of offshore drilling," Scott said. "Offshore oil drilling can occur in a safe way, but it must be strictly regulated in order to protect Georgia's fragile coastlines."

Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss say banning new oil exploration is going too far.

"We need find out what caused this equipment to fail and do everything we can to ensure that it never happens again," Isakson said. "However, the United States must reduce our dependence on imported foreign oil, and responsible exploration of the resources off U.S. shores will remain an important part of reaching that goal."

What the Gulf of Mexico spill really proves is that the country needs to become less dependent on oil, Barrow said.

"The larger lesson is, we need to develop new sources of energy that are safer to harvest," he said. "But right now, we're dependent on fossil fuels -- whether we like it or not."