From Biden's comments in the Senate:
Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE]: Mr. President, I am in opposition to the bill before us that opens up new areas in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. I don't dispute that the oil and natural gas that may be harvested as a result of this legislation could be useful, and I would support drilling from some new sources--if the value of doing so is not outweighed by the risks to our environment and economies. But it is not a solution to our energy problems. Here we are, yet again, with a so-called "energy" plan that only offers one plan for our energy security crisis: drilling. That is not much of a plan. That is not going to free our foreign policy. That is not going to lower prices at the pump. And if we are going to drill in new areas, we need to make sure we do it right, and not bypass the appropriately careful process and environmental reviews that are required by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The leadership put this bill before the Senate and said: "take it or leave it." This bill could have been much better, and I fear that the bill that will come back from the House will be much worse.