ENERGY BRIEFING: Democratic Ocean Climate Bill Faces Long Odds

Democratic legislation to boost ocean conservation, coastal resiliency and “blue carbon” systems isn’t going anywhere, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said yesterday during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing.

The legislation (H.R. 8632), which would prohibit new oil and gas leasing and development in all of the outer continental shelf, has been referred to six different House panels and doesn’t yet have any Republican co-sponsors.

“It’s really embarrassing to continue to see legislation like this that is so offensive to the people that I represent, and simply doesn’t represent the science and the on-the-ground conditions,” said Graves, whose state ...