Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine held a conference call with reporters last week to announce that they would be introducing legislation that would expand oil, gas, wind, solar and tidal energy leases off the coast of Virginia. They said the bill is similar to legislation introduced in the House of Representatives.

Warner said the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2013, which would allow industry to explore energy possibilities along Virginia’s coast, would be a "another smart step for moving Virginia’s energy program forward" and that the "all-of-the-above" approach would take advantage of all of Virginia’s "coastal resources and opportunities."

The bill would also provide income for Virginia. It includes a provision for revenue sharing between the federal and state governments on the sale of the leases and on the royalties charged on any resulting sales of products. The federal government would receive 50 percent of any proceeds, while 37...