WASHINGTON – With high gas prices becoming a hot political issue, the House on Thursday passed legislation that would expand offshore energy exploration, even though Congress has yet to adopt new drilling safeguards a year after the massive Gulf of Mexico spill.

The Republican-sponsored measure would open the Virginia coast to drilling and expand production in the Gulf of Mexico, but it faces opposition from the White House and long odds against passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

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The soaring cost of gasoline has increased pressure on lawmakers to show that they feel the public’s pain at the pump, although there is little Congress can do to provide immediate relief. The Associated Press

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Approval of the bill came amid escalating gas-pump politics at the Capitol.

A gusher of bills have been introduced. The Big Oil Welfare Repeal Act would scale back industry tax breaks, while the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (or NOPEC) Act would permit legal action against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for conspiring to restrict supplies or drive up prices. Senate Democrats hope to bring up a measure as early as next week to end subsidies for oil companies.

Lawmakers from both parties are eager to show they feel the public’s pain at the pump — and highlight differences over energy policy — even though there are limits to what they can do to provide immediate relief.

“Last night, I had a telephone town hall with hundreds of my constituents,” said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio. “The overwhelming concern was the high price of gas.”

House approval of the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act comes after the BP oil spill disaster a year ago led the Obama administration to back off plans to open the eastern gulf and portions of the Atlantic Coast to oil and gas exploration.

But with the national average price of gasoline approaching $4 a gallon, the measure passed 266-149 with the support of 233 Republicans and 33 Democrats.

It is the first of three pro-production bills the House Republican majority plans to bring up for a vote before Memorial Day, the traditional start of the summer driving season. One bill would require the Interior Department to offer leases, within the next five years, for new drilling off Southern California, Alaska and areas in the Atlantic. Another would speed permitting for offshore drilling.

Even if it would take years for the oil to reach consumers, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the measure would “send a strong signal to the world markets that the U.S. is serious about producing our resources.”

Opponents attacked the measure as a “spill amnesia bill,” referring to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 rig workers and spilled more than 200 million gallons of crude.

Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., said the bill “represents a return to the pre-spill mentality of speed over safety.”

The Obama administration has moved to strengthen drilling safety, but contended the bill would “hastily” open coastal areas to drilling, allowing the oil industry to use environmental reviews conducted before the gulf oil spill. The administration also has moved to issue more permits for gulf drilling, but Republicans complained it hasn’t been enough.

The bill seeks to make Virginia the first state on the Eastern Seaboard in decades to open its coast to drilling. The state’s Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, endorsed the legislation Thursday at a Richmond, Va., gas station news conference. It would require the Interior Department, within a year of the bill’s passage, to conduct a lease sale for drilling 50 miles off the Virginia coast.

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