Upton, Whitfield heading for Gulf to push drilling

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s GOP leadership will visit the Gulf of Mexico next week to in a trip aimed at making the case for expanded offshore oil-and-gas development.

Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) — his top lieutenant on energy — will be in Louisiana Wednesday through Friday on a tour led by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).

A Scalise aide said the trip will include meetings with energy industry officials Wednesday, a day-long visit Thursday to a Chevron Corp. deepwater drilling platform, and a Friday boat tour of the Louisiana coast.

“This is a way to get members down so they can see Louisiana because it is truly America’s energy coast,” said Scalise spokesman Stephen Bell. He said the tour of the Chevron facility is aimed at reviewing the infrastructure and technology that companies are using to drill with safeguards in deep waters.

In prepared statements about the trip, both Scalise and Upton took aim at White House policies they allege are thwarting U.S. energy development.

“American families know that we cannot achieve energy security by killing energy jobs and handcuffing American energy producers, and this tour will allow members of Congress from around the country to get a first-hand view of the technology and innovation involved in exploring for energy safely in the deep water,” said Scalise, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

The trip will continue a GOP push for expanded offshore drilling that has been front-and-center on the House floor of late.

The House has passed a trio of offshore drilling bills over the last week sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.).

The bills would set new deadlines for action on drilling permit requests, set deadlines for holding delayed Gulf of Mexico lease sales and open other coastal areas to drilling.

Three other lawmakers will also make the trip: Reps. Gene Green (D-Texas), Steve Womack (R-Ark.) and Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.).