There’s oil in those waters!

U.S. Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Richmond, voiced his support Monday of state legislation endorsing domestic drilling for oil and natural gas off the Virginia coastline.

The bill introduced by Del. Chris Saxman, R-Augusta, made its way through committee and was set to go before the full of House of Delegates Wednesday.

The proposed legislation, House Bill 6006, seeks to dedicate future revenue and royalties from offshore drilling in Virginia to the state’s oft beleaguered Transportation Trust Fund.

“Though federal officials will ultimately decide whether to lift the ban on offshore drilling, it is important for Virginia, possessing potentially significant offshore resources, to prepare for that possibility now,” said Del. Saxman in a news release Monday. “By passing House Bill 6006, the Virginia General Assembly can send a strong message to Congress that we are ready to act.”

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, appeared ready.

“We need to advance environmentally responsible ways to explore and produce more energy here at home,” he said in the release.

Cantor, up for reelection to a fifth term in November, described the proposal for oil exploration in the deep waters off the coast of Virginia as “a common sense solution.”

“Exploration will not only increase oil and gas supply, but provide a dedicated source of revenue that can be used to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

“We must get serious about helping the middle class in this country and do something real about the pain at the pump; this bill will help.”

Cantor, who represents Virginia’s Seventh District, including Culpeper, Madison and Orange counties, in the U.S. House of Representatives, told the Star-Exponent last month that finding solutions to the energy crisis was his number one priority.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or