The Interior Department on Monday released a new plan that would chip away at longtime moratoriums on oil and gas drilling off the U.S. coast.

The five-year plan would expand oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska — and extend it to the waters off Virginia, where the state legislature, Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, Republican Sen. John W. Warner and Democratic Sen. Jim Webb backed the proposal.

Release of the plan follows enactment last year of legislation (PL 109-432) expanding drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico that included revenue-sharing for states — a provision that, combined with concerns about dependence on foreign oil, some argue could shift the terms of the offshore drilling debate.

“Money talks, and politicians love to get more money without raising taxes. So it does change the debate,” said Tyson Slocum, an energy analyst with the advocacy group Public Citizen. “But the fundamentals are that there are still going to be a lot of people against this. There’s a lot of people concerned about the Chesapeake Bay, and they’re going to fight back hard.”

In Congress, key Democratic chairmen said they opposed the plan and cast doubt on its prospects.

“Whatever pressing energy issue comes before the American people, the Bush Administration always responds with the same old answer — more oil. The latest — a new five-year plan to expand offshore drilling — is a disingenuous proposal designed to shield a White House that is not serious about achieving energy independence,” said House Natural Resources Chairman Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., in a statement.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is already working on bringing a slate of energy measures to the floor, and increasing offshore drilling doesn’t play any part in them, said his spokesman. Instead, his package focuses on increasing energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable fuels.

Still, environmental groups concede that the new law, with its new precedent of allowing states to profit from drilling in federal waters, could make a once unsavory option more palatable to some states.

“Once that genie left the bottle last year, and opened the door on revenue sharing, there was a lot more interest,” said Athan Manual, a director of the Sierra Club. “Since the weakening in Virginia, we may see some more softening from other states — after all, money is money.”

A case in point is Webb, who said he supported drilling in his state’s waters, as long as there were efforts to preserve Virginia’s coastline and naval bases. But “there’s no question” that the prospect of boosting the coffers of his home state plays a big role in his support, said a Webb spokeswoman. The state plans to channel any new revenue into the schools and infrastructure.

That’s exactly what Senate Energy ranking Republican Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, a leading backer of last year’s proposal, intended: At its passage in December, he hailed the revenue-sharing provision as a “first step” toward opening up more of the U.S. coastline for drilling.

Domenici’s spokesman, Matt Letourneau, said of the administration plan, “The senator was pleased. It represents the right direction in his mind. The effect we intended is taking place. We wanted to set up the formula and break some ground,” he said.

He described Virginia’s request as “a real success.”

For now, energy analysts say they don’t believe the lure of revenue sharing is enough to overcome opposition to offshore drilling — especially without support from the chairmen of the relevant committees.

But never say never, said Paul Bledsoe, a spokesman for the nonpartisan National Commission on Energy Policy. Increasing offshore drilling could have a slim chance if it were packaged with a healthy host of conservation-friendly measures.

“If [more offshore drilling] is to have any chance, it would have to be part of a much broader deal, combined with approaches like efficiency and fuel economy,” Bledsoe said.

• CQ Green Sheets, Dec. 7