Obey has shut down the House Appropriations Committee so that there won’t be a vote on drilling:

Tempers flared and the House Appropriations Committee abruptly adjourned Thursday morning after Republicans sought to hijack the meeting agenda and force a vote on their hottest new political issue: easing restrictions on offshore drilling for oil and gas.
California Rep. Jerry Lewis, the panel’s ranking Republican, said he was forced to spring the legislative trap when he couldn’t get a firm commitment from Democrats for a vote on the Interior Department budget bill, which governs federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf. But the ploy infuriated Chairman Dave Obey, who threatened to shut down the entire appropriations process this summer and put the government on a stop spending bill after Oct. 1.

[…]
Cooler heads may yet prevail — and opposing staffers were seeking one another out in the wake of the fray. But Lewis said he needed a real commitment to bring up the Interior bill, which has been delayed by the Democrats for fear of losing on the OCS issue given the public outcry over gasoline prices.

Just like the Democrats to stand in the way of drilling even though it will probably pass.