Advocates Lobby Feds Against Oil Drilling off Maryland

By Peter Granitz

Environmental advocates are lobbying the federal government to make sure there is no off-shore oil drilling off of the Maryland shore.

They're hoping Congress and the Obama Administration hear their concerns before a final energy bill comes forward.

Brad Heavner is with Environment Maryland, a Baltimore-based advocacy group pushing for renewable energy sources in an evolving energy and climate bill.

He says the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is helping promote his cause and the American people want windmills not oil spills.

Speaking at a rally in Annapolis, he says the onus for drilling in Maryland isn't on the state at all -- it's up to the federal government.

The plan for increased oil exploration off the East Coast that President Obama announced before the oil spill in the gulf is still on the table.

And the Obama Administration will decide in the next couple of months whether to go forward and allow oil rigs off the East Coast.

Heavner says the president could withdraw the proposal without Congress it's just unclear whether he's willing to do that.