With the ink barely dry on the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed by the President last month, the House Resources Committee today pushed through another energy bill that pads the record-shattering profits of multi-national energy conglomerates and allows drilling in our most fragile federal lands and waters, charged Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall (D-WV).
"If this bill is a response to the lessons of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is ill-considered. Heaven forbid Mother Nature sends us another storm, and next week, we are digging for oil on the National Mall - if the federal government still owns that land," said Rahall.
He continued, " We have just seen how dependence on offshore resources is a bet that Mother Nature can literally wash away. But this proposal calls for more of the same. And big oil can take it to the bank."
The plan approved today entices States to choose to drill from 3 miles off their coastlines with the promise of 50% of the revenues generated, leading America down a slippery slope toward repealing the widely popular moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. States that opt not to drill but are adjacent to those that choose to drill will be vulnerable to the consequences of their neighbors’ actions.
U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) along with U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) offered an amendment to strike the entire section of the proposal that allowed drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf at the States’ discretion.
"The reality is that the Republican leaders are continuing to give America a false choice. We do not have to choose between drilling in our national preserved lands or being at the mercy of oil from the Middle East. This push for drilling in the Arctic Refuge and the OCS is completely unnecessary when we could save oil by simply improving the average fuel economy of cars, minivans and SUV's," declared Markey.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat who represents a coastal New Jersey Congressional District, said, "Pollution drifting from neighboring states has caused my coastal communities to close beaches, costing billions of tourism dollars. I was hoping Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would be a wake-up call; instead, this Committee’s solution is to drill more."
The Markey/Inslee amendment was not adopted by the Committee.
During debate, senior Committee Member George Miller (D-CA) stated, "Instead of an energy policy for the 21st century, Americans are being offered, for the second time this year, a plan that relies on drilling along protected coastlines in California and Florida, drilling in the protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, wiping out vital environmental protection laws, and one that fails to make any headway in the desperately needed area of energy efficiency."
Rahall concluded, "While our constituents are watching with worry as the price at the pump jumps up and down, this bill does nothing to prevent price gouging. I have long worked for a comprehensive national energy policy, but one that continues to spoon feed our appetite for oil at any expense is not in the best interest of America."
![[New for the Democrats - Committee on Resources - U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, Ranking Democrat - 1329 Longworth HOB - Washington, DC 20015]](news_banner.gif)
