By Kathryn Skelton,Staff Writer

Maine’s U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said Monday they oppose drilling for oil or gas off the Maine coast.

Three weeks ago the U.S. House voted to drop a 25-year moratorium on thousands of miles of coastline and allow drilling 50 miles out to sea. Under the proposal, state governors, with their legislatures’ backing, would have to regularly ask to ban drilling for oil, gas or natural gas between 50 and 100 miles from the coast.

They could also petition to allow drilling much closer.

There’s incentive: big money to be split with states and coastal cities for leasing rights.

“I will not support any legislation that would open drilling for oil and natural gas 50 miles off the coast of Maine. This misguided policy could dramatically impact coastal-dependent states like Maine at a time when we are working to stabilize fragile fish stocks and ecosystems,” said Snowe, through a spokesperson.

Collins echoed those concerns, through her spokesperson.

“During this time of high energy prices and political instability in the Middle East, it is important that America utilize its important energy resources in regions where this can be done in an environmentally acceptable manner, such as much of the Gulf of Mexico,” she said. But drilling isn’t appropriate for the North Atlantic.

Melinda Pierce, associate director of national campaigns for the Sierra Club, paid both senators’ staffs a visit last week. She was in Maine on Monday.

She said she believes the issue will be taken up formally by the Senate before its August vacation and has heard that even if the Senate crafts a compromise version – new drilling on the southern coast, none on the east and west – the House won’t budge.

Drilling here would mean diverting money toward tax breaks, she said. It would also mean processing facilities and major infrastructure.

“There’s always the threat of a catastrophic oil spill,” she said.

Right now, drilling is banned for 200 miles, to international waters.

In the Senate, Florida appears to have worked out a 125-mile buffer for itself until 2022.

“Why don’t all the states have that sort of protection? It’s not an appropriate issue for each state to decide for itself,” said Dylan Voorhees, clean energy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. His group sent a lobbyist last week to Washington as well. Even buffers for Florida and Maine are “not good enough,” he said.

Gov. John Baldacci is monitoring the issue and already voiced his concerns, asking the senators to “vigorously oppose any proposal that undermines or removes” the ban, according to a spokeswoman.

The Massachusetts Petroleum Council, which oversees Maine, and the Maine Oil Dealers Association could not be reached for comment on those groups’ positions.

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