House members move to hold offshore oil and gas auctions on the Internet. Photo by tartaruga1988/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) — Bipartisan leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives returned from recesses to pass a measure that would move offshore oil and gas leasing to the Internet. The Innovation in Offshore Leasing Act, introduced to Reps. Garret Graves, R-La., and Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., would give the federal Department of the Interior authority to hold offshore oil and natural gas leases online. In a statement, Graves said moving the process to the Internet would increase competition and cut out some of the costs associated with holding leases in public space. “Making government work better for people, the way it’s supposed to, is a primary goal in everything we do up here, and this bill is designed with that in mind,” he said. With nearly all of the offshore oil and […]