Moran to McDonnell: "Offshore drilling revenue are a mirage"

Yet another reality-based person - Rep. Jim Moran, in this case - weighs in regarding Bob McDonnell's delusional belief that offshore oil revenues are just sitting out there, waiting for us to "drill baby drill" 'em out of the ground. To the contrary, as Chap Petersen pointed out, this is "a fraud wrapped in a chimera concealed within a pyramid scheme." And now, Jim Moran uses a different metaphor - a "mirage" - to describe the same thing. Either way, the point is clear and Bob McDonnell is revealed as having absolutely no clue or plan other than cut, cut, and cut some more.

I appreciate the Governor’s desire to bring in new transportation dollars, but any projections for offshore drilling revenue are a mirage.

As I stated in my March 5th letter to Governor McDonnell: even under the most optimistic scenario, drilling would not occur for at least another eight years. Because drilling would occur in federal waters, by law all royalties must go to the federal government.

Due to a solid coalition of non-coastal states who believe that offshore drilling royalties belong to all the States, there’s little to no chance the Commonwealth would receive special consideration.

Putting aside the obvious environmental concerns, drilling off Virginia’s coast could also hamper our efforts to ‘Save the Carrier’ at Norfolk. The Navy and Department of Defense are strongly opposed to any activities in the proposed region that would affect training operations. Erecting oil rigs in this zone could add fuel to Florida’s efforts to take our carrier and jeopardize other naval and NASA assets along our coastline.