WASHINGTON — While Congress continues a decades-old debate about whether to tap into more of our offshore natural gas reserves, you may be surprised to know that Cuba is preparing to drill for the clean-burning fuel in its territorial waters just 45 miles from Key West, Fla.

Congressional inaction on this issue is especially shameful when you consider U.S. natural gas consumers currently pay more for the fuel than anyone else in the world — and, shockingly, more than twice as much as their Chinese counterparts.

The United States has trillions of cubic feet of natural gas along both coastlines, much of it within 50 to 250 miles of the energy-deprived Mid-Atlantic and New England states.

Modern technology allows it to be extracted in an environmentally friendly manner and safely transported to consumers across the country that have been forced each winter to deal with high prices, uneven supply, and even occasional shortages.

Ironically, Cuba is negotiating with China, as well as several other countries, to handle drilling operations in the Florida Straits — chiefly because Fidel Castro's low-tech economy lacks both the equipment and the know-how to do its own drilling.

The Florida Keys are just 90 miles from Cuba, and international law allows nations to exercise drilling rights to up to 45 miles from their shores in such cases.

While Chinese technicians are tapping into this underwater energy treasure chest and pumping up Cuba's slumping economy, one state, Florida, continues to block access to nearby supplies.

While states' rights are an important part of U.S. constitutional law, no single state governor or legislature should be allowed to harm our economic future by applying brakes to the nation's global competitiveness. We are, after all, talking about producing energy in federal ocean waters — not state areas. These reserves belong as much to Hawaiians and Pennsylvanians as they do to Floridians.

The environmental risks of exploration for natural gas are absolutely zero. A landmark Clinton administration study, The Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Technology, confirmed as much in 1999.

And natural gas is just about the "greenest" fuel widely available to humans in the early part of the 21st century.

In fact, a "spill" of natural gas isn't really a spill because, unlike oil, it harmlessly evaporates without damage to the surrounding environment. That's not to say that oil exploration is dangerous — we haven't had a significant offshore oil spill in this country in nearly 40 years.

Virtually every other country with a coastline firmly believes offshore natural gas can be extracted safely. Even such environmentally sensitive countries as Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada conduct extensive natural gas exploration programs with few qualms about either safety or environmental denigration.

Because it is so safe to claim our offshore natural gas reserves and the need is so great, Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, and I have introduced the Outer Continental Shelf Natural Gas Relief Act. The act has received bipartisan support, including Democratic co-sponsors from Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Minnesota. Our legislation applies only to natural gas exploration, not petroleum.

Unlike other proposed legislation, it removes all bans on offshore natural gas exploration — even off the coast of Florida — putting America on an equal footing with Cuba in tapping into some of the world's largest reserves. Yet, it still allows states to ban exploration within 20 miles of their coasts, if they choose.

In addition to lowering energy costs for all Americans and keeping vitally needed jobs at home, the Peterson-Abercrombie bill provides immediate economic benefits for coastal states at a time when their budgets are stretched thin.

This OCS Natural Gas Relief Act also provides relief for the least fortunate among us by directing the first 10 percent of revenue from new gas leases to the Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

This is truly a win-win situation that all Americans can embrace. In the end, everyone gains from providing clean, affordable, environmentally safe energy from our nation's abundant offshore gas reserves.

U.S. Rep. John E. Peterson, R-Pa., is a member of the House Committee on Resources.