South Carolina's Joe Cunningham scores big win in House vote to ban offshore drilling

WASHINGTON -- When Joe Cunningham returns home to his South Carolina district, he can say he convinced a majority of the U.S. House to go on the record in support of banning offshore drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

This was a 2018 campaign promise on which the Democratic congressman has now delivered — at least the part over which he has some control.

Cunningham’s bill to institute a permanent ban on oil and gas drilling passed the Democratic-controlled chamber on Wednesday afternoon, 238-189, but it’s not likely to ever become law.

The issue is still divisive among Republicans who tend to support what they call an “all of the above” energy policy that doesn’t preclude oil and gas drilling as a means of securing domestic energy independence.

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