Acknowledging the timing was ironic, a trio of Republican state senators this morning held a news conference to announce they had filed a bill to open up the North Carolina coast to energy drilling.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf Coast.

Sen. Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg County dealt head-on in his opening remarks with what he acknowledged was “a little irony.”

“But what we did learn from this disaster is we learned from our mistakes,” Rucho said. “The industry has already found ways to make sure that oil exploration and production can be done in a very safe manner.”

Sen. Harry Brown of Onslow County pointed out that the bill is about natural gas and not oil, which he said was environmentally safer. The bill also encourages exploration of a variety of alternative energy sources.

But the focus on the bill is on natural gas. It would direct Gov. Bev Perdue to enter into a pact with the governors of Virginia and South Carolina to urge the president to open the East Coast to explore for natural gas 40 miles offshore.

If there is a sufficient deposit of natural gas out there, entering into a revenue-sharing agreement would bring North Carolina 6,700 jobs and generate half a billion dollars in revenue every year for decades, according to the sponsors. Sen. Tommy Tucker of Union County is the third sponsor.

This afternoon, the governor's spokesman issued this statement:

"Gov. Perdue appointed the Governor’s Scientific Advisory Panel on Offshore Energy to advise the state on the potential effects of offshore drilling – and she has clearly insisted that any revenue generated from drilling off our coast should be shared with the state and its people. As for this specific bill, she will watch its progress through the General Assembly before making a decision about it.”