The Hill: H.R. 6709 picks up support

While the Brian Davis campaign is both damning H.R. 6709 as "too-complicated" and claiming that it doesn't expand offshore drilling while also scolding Walz for not getting it passed before the August work break, The Hill reports today that it's gaining support in Drilling duo claims way to sidestep a shutdown:                  

The bipartisan duo who authored a compromise on offshore oil drilling say their plan may be the best way to avoid a government shutdown now that Republican leaders have flatly rejected Democrats’ first effort to allow exploration off the coasts.

Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and John Peterson (R-Pa.) led a group of more than two dozen lawmakers from both parties in drafting legislation to allow drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The key selling point of their plan is diverting one-third of the royalties to support alternative and renewable energy.

“We believe we’ve got the best way forward,” said Peterson spokesman Patrick Creighton. “Our bill is a compromise that everyone can live with.”

The plan has 130 co-sponsors, but more than half are Republican, which may be due to the fact that the essence of the bill is closer to the GOP’s pro-drilling platform. It doesn’t include Democratic priorities like a mandate for renewable electricity, nor a plan to force energy companies to “use or lose” the leases they currently have on federal lands.

In Minnesota's delegation, Collin Peterson has joined Walz, Kline and Bachmann in supporting the bill.