Cup o' Joe

Food, travel, and news on the Chesapeake Bay

Yes, the Obama Administration has decided to “examine” the plan to allow oil drilling in Virginia waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake. And I imagine offshore oil drilling will be delayed here as well as elsewhere in the country due to the Gulf spill. But we Americans have very short memories.

Several readers have written to me wondering what they can do to prevent the government from moving ahead. As CBF blogger Tom Pelton points out in a recent post, writing to your Congressman may not be the most effective outlet in this case. There is no “drilling bill” that needs to be passed. Instead, he suggests writing to the federal Minerals Management Service regarding “Lease Sale 220” zone, which establishes drilling rights for 2.9 million acres about 50 miles off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Virginia Beach. According to Pelton, the agency is also considering leasing a larger swath of land from Maryland south to Florida. To make your voice heard, you can e-mail MMS at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or write to U.S. Department of Interior, Attention Leasing Division, 381 Elden Street, MS-4010, Herndon, Va. 20170

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/06/10 at 09:35 PM

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