(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today applauded the president’s decision to issue an executive order to lift the moratorium on energy exploration in America’s outer continental shelf.  There were two prohibitions on offshore drilling – one put in place by Congress and another by executive order of the president’s office in 1990. With the executive prohibition out of the way, Congress is now solely responsible for blocking the United States from increasing our domestic production of oil and gas.

         “With this executive order, the president has cleared another hurdle from increasing offshore exploration,” said Vitter.  “Congress must answer the calls of the American people and act now to allow more domestic energy production.  and my bill, the ENOUGH Act, would do just that.”

         Vitter’s Energy Needed Offshore Under Gas Hikes, or ENOUGH, Act would allow for increased energy exploration off a state’s own coast.  It allows a governor, with the concurrence of the state legislature, to petition for increased energy exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf.

         “This bill creates considerable benefits for states that choose this course of action,” Vitter said.  “It will increase our national energy supply, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and help finance important state conservation efforts, like coastal preservation for Louisiana.  We need to take bold action on behalf of the millions of American families who are struggling to meet the growing cost of gas and energy, and this bill does just that.”

         Vitter’s ENOUGH Act provides revenue sharing for new producing areas in the following distributions: 45 percent of new offshore revenues will go to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury; 37.5 percent to eligible producing states for new producing areas and 12.5 percent to provide to states for Land and Water Conservation Fund.  The ENOUGH Act also distributes 5 percent of new offshore revenues to states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama that have historically carried American’s energy production burden when other states, prior to the ENOUGH Act, have not drilled.

         “Every day, gas prices we believed would only be seen in Europe are staring back at us at the pump.  Basic economics says that we must increase our own domestic energy supply if we want to lower gas prices and free ourselves from untrustworthy foreign energy sources, ” said Vitter.  “Let’s empower each state to decide what is right for its coast and its energy needs, instead of allowing a slim majority to decide for all of us.”

         Vitter’s bill also provides that the governor of a state may distinguish natural gas only when petitioning for increased energy exploration activities. 

         He offered an amendment similar to the ENOUGH Act to this year’s budget conference report in the U.S. Senate that received 44 votes of support.