Information about the vote from special interest groups and other information providers in our Report Cards:
Sierra Club
Protection from Oil and Gas Drilling in the Great Lakes.
The House approved an amendment by Rep. David Bonior (D-MI), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that would ban oil and gas drilling beneath the Great Lakes. Millions of Americans rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water and recreation. This needless drilling would endanger this irreplaceable resource for a minimal amount of oil. The Bonior-Stupak-LaTourette-Kaptur amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 2311) passed.League of Conservation Voters
Great Lakes Drilling.
The Great Lakes, which contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply, are endangered by continued oil and gas drilling beneath the lake beds. This so-called “directional drilling” jeopardizes shorelines, surrounding wetlands, and the waters of the Great Lakes themselves. In addition, oil spills have the potential to contaminate drinking water in eight states.
Since 1979, the seven directional wells currently in operation under the Great Lakes have not produced enough oil or gas to fuel U.S. energy needs for even a single day. Yet the governor and state legislature of Michigan recently moved to lift an existing moratorium on new drilling. During consideration of H.R. 2311, the Energy and Water appropriations bill, Representatives David Bonior (D-MI), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) introduced an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on new drilling. Specifically, the amendment would have prohibited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from spending federal funds to issue new permits for oil or gas drilling beneath any of the Great Lakes, as well as Lake St. Clair, St. Mary's River, St. Clair River, the Detroit River, the Niagara River, and the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to the 45th parallel.
The House approved the Bonior-Stupak-Kaptur-LaTourette amendment. In July, the Senate approved an amendment to the Energy and Water appropriations bill by Unanimous Consent (without a recorded vote) that would place a two-year moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes. The House and Senate approved the conference report containing the Senate's moratorium on November 1, and President Bush signed it on November 12.
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Environmental Preservation/Oppose Drilling in Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes contain 20% of all the fresh water in the entire world, yet last year numerous attempts were made to expand so-called “directional drilling” under the bed of the Great Lakes, jeopardizing the shoreline, surrounding wetlands, and the waters of the Great Lakes themselves.
During consideration of H.R. 2311, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, Reps. Bonior (D-MI), Stupak (D-MI), Kaptur (D-OH), and La-Tourette (R-OH) introduced an amendment to protect the Great Lakes region from the environmental harm caused by oil and gas drilling. Specifically, the amendment would prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from spending federal funds to issue any new permits for oil or gas drilling from land beneath the water in any of the Great Lakes, as well as in Lake Saint Clair, the Saint Mary's River, the Saint Clair River, the Detroit River, the Niagara River, or the Saint Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to the 45th parallel of latitude. The House approved the amendment.
League of Private Property Voters
Fiscal 2002 Energy and Water Appropriations - Lake Drilling.
Bonior, D-Mich., amendment
that would ban additional oil and gas drilling
in the Great Lakes. This silly amendment
ignores the fact that oil and gas drilling has
been done safely in the Great Lakes for over
fifty years, both on the Canadian and American
sides.
Adopted.