Reid rejects lifting of offshore ban

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Monday rejected President Bush's call to lift an offshore drilling moratorium, saying he will not allow a vote.

"Americans are concerned with the high price of gasoline," Bush said in a Rose Garden announcement in which he lifted an executive order prohibiting offshore drilling.

However, Reid, D-Nev., said an amendment giving states new authority to seek oil off their coasts will not come up for a vote when the Democratic energy bill is considered later this month, The Hill reported.

Reid said Bush's announcement to rescind the executive order banning offshore drilling was a gift to oil interests and called on them to explore for oil elsewhere.

Bush's announcement was seen as largely symbolic. He renewed his call for opening restricted areas of northern Alaska to oil production.

"It's been almost a month since I urged Congress to act -- and they've done nothing," the Republican president said. "And as the Democratically controlled Congress has sat idle, gas prices have continued to increase.

"To reduce pressure on prices we must continue to implement good conservation policies, and we need to increase the supply of oil, especially here at home."