The odds of letting states opt out of coastal moratorium in return for a share of offshore royalties are much higher. There is sufficient momentum behind this idea that it is going to take more than objections from Florida to stop it.

The return to the moratorium is one of the components.

When something like an offshore drilling station is located within that boundary of a state, that's 100 percent of royalties that state receives, ... The way it's written up right now is just not fair to states like Louisiana.

Offshore drilling could turn our beaches and coastal waters into an industrial zone. Rather than auction off our valuable coastline to oil and gas companies, Virginia should be leading the way with energy solutions that will sustain our energy needs and our economy far into the future.

What gets me is here Katrina comes along and it breaks up all the offshore drilling rigs, and all of the sudden, before the gas in the East Texas area can reach us, we're already paying the increased prices,

The United States and Arizona are both losing jobs to offshore locations.