Democrats crafted this bill so that even if it passed both houses drilling would never happen. This is how they accomplished that feat - As a final safeguard, the Democrats refused to include a provision that would prevent lawsuits by green zealots seeking to forestall drilling indefinitely.
Oh and don't think that if the drilling ban is allowed to expire on Oct. 1 that all will be hunky dory and oil will flow freely. See the paragraph above this one for the explaination.
We need a bill and not be content with just letting the OCS ban expire! A bill that not only allows drilling anywhere (OCS and On Shore) but also removes the environmentalist and their lobbyists from the equation. Just letting the current ban expire does nothing to prevent such groups from suing every oil lease awarded. Such cases often remain tied in court for years and thus preventing drilling. Just ask Chevron about their Destin Dome lease in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
According to research presented by Rep. John Shadegg (R-Az), the Bush Administration issued 487 leases last February in the Chukchi Sea -- environmental lawyers challenged every one. Oh and those were challenges just to the issuance of the leases - when the oil companies try do do actual exploration there will be more litigation - and when they actually want to drill - guess what?