ON MONDAY, President Bush lifted the 18-year-old executive order banning oil drilling off of America's coastline. Now all that blocks the drill bits are Democratic congressional leaders and their knee-jerk anti-drilling lapdogs like Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes.

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Let's be perfectly clear about this. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Congress to ban offshore drilling. Energy Information Administration data show that offshore drilling has a truly impressive safety record. Since 1975, only .001 percent of oil drilled from U.S. coastal waters has been spilled during extraction.

NASA research shows that spills from offshore drilling operations are the smallest source of oil leaks into the ocean. Transportation accidents spill 2.5 times as much oil into the ocean as offshore drilling does. Shortening tanker trips by drilling a few miles offshore instead of thousands of miles away will not only keep more of our money from going to the sheiks, but will actually reduce the risk of large oil spills.

All of this information comes from the federal government. Yet the Democrats in Congress bury their heads in their environmentalist donors' pocketbooks every time it comes up.

"Lifting the ban on offshore drilling is incredibly shortsighted and will do nothing to solve our nation's long term energy crisis," Shea-Porter said yesterday. " . . . I believe we must rein in speculators who are just looking to make a buck and must also pursue clean, renewable energy."

But economists from Harvard to Houston say that the problem is a shortage of supply and that drilling for more oil will lower oil prices not only in the future, but now. And experts on the futures markets, including the head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, say speculators have had little to no impact on oil prices.

The fact is, drilling offshore is a safe, effective way to reduce our imports and lower prices for consumers. Democrats who continue to block offshore drilling are keeping oil prices high and the oil sheiks flush with cash for one reason only: partisan politics. If they allow drilling, they can no longer paint Republicans as patsies of "Big Oil."

If you aren't willing to continue paying $4 a gallon so Democrats can keep bashing Republicans and Big Oil, call Rep. Paul Hodes at 223-9814 or Carol Shea-Porter at 743-4813 and tell them to lift the ban now. We cannot afford to pay the price for their partisan games any longer.