Rep. "Biz" Markey Spares Mass. the Drill

As Democrats finalize their wholesale sell-out of 30 years of environmental protections dramatic reversal on the offshore oil drilling ban, Representative Ed "Biz" Markey may have spared Massachusetts the drill. The Globe reports that Markey included a last-minute revision to the House energy bill that will protect Georges Bank from any future offshore drilling. The area had been one of three on the Atlantic Coast that would have been subjected to new exploration. Back in the seventies, it was Massachusetts fisherman who were among the most vocal groups clamoring to ban offshore drilling. If we had to take a stab in the dark, however, we'd guess that this time around there were more, um, leisurely forces at work behind the scenes.