GOP Prepared to Cut Oil Drilling Deal with Pelosi

Monday, August 18, 2008 By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer On the Spot (CNSNews.com) – Republicans protesting on the House floor for the last two weeks and demanding Congress take action on high gas prices told CNSNews.com that they might accept some of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) “alternative energy” terms in exchange for a vote to lift the ban on new offshore oil drilling. In a radio address Saturday, Pelosi indicated she may allow a vote to open further oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) if it is packaged with a number of energy alternatives that many Republicans oppose, but she did not specify when the vote might take place – this year or in early 2009. “I think there is a lot we have in common with the speaker on renewables, on alternative energy and conservation efforts,” Rep. John Shimkus (D-Ill.)... [read full story]