A Capitol Hearing

Hasan and I made it over to Longworth this morning where the House Committee on Natural Resources met to hear testimonies from environmental activists Ted Danson and Philippe Cousteau, Jr. This hearing was the first of a series to discuss “Perspectives on the Continental Shelf”. The witnesses offered their mutual recommendation to Congress to reinstate the expired moratorium on the surrounding Outer Continental Shelf. Danson and Cousteau spoke at the hearing on behalf of their respective organizations, Danson as a member of the Board of Directors for Oceana and Cousteau as Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of EarthEcho.

The hearing covered a broad spectrum of concerns regarding the OCS, but focus was clearly on the benefits and drawbacks of drilling in these valued locations. Danson and Cousteau offered compelling testimony for green jobs, a revived economy, and protection for the critical and fragile ocean ecosystems. Their testimonies will be taken into serious consideration as Congress decides future actions on this significant area of natural resources.

Policy & Lobbying

Monday, in a statement made from the White House Rose Garden, President Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling that his father put in place when he was president.

Drilling on the outer continental shelf (OCS) is being falsely pitched as a short term, immediate fix to high gas prices, when in fact any resulting leases will not be in production until 2017 and relief at the gas station will be minimal. Most estimates put the price decrease at around four cents per gallon.

Fortunately, our coasts are still protected by a legislative moratorium. Although Big Oil allies in Congress would like to do away with that too. Legislation proposing to lift the moratorium could come in the form of a stand-alone bill or an amendment to any number of land or energy bills.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has introduced an energy bill that would open the OCS to drilling and also gives states the right to reject the sale of leases off their coasts. LCV strongly opposes this bill for many reasons, including that spills or leaks may occur off the coast of one state can easily travel elsewhere by way of wind and ocean currents. It should also be obvious that marine animals, including economically valuable fish species, do not respect state boundaries. Most importantly, the Energy Information Administration predicts that drilling on the OCS will not reach peak production until 2025 and when it does it will account for less than one percent of daily demand in the United States. Protecting our rich coastal ecosystems should take priority over such minimal supply gains.

Republican Senators Stevens and Murkowski of Alaska also plan to introduce language either as a standalone bill or an amendment that would open 1.5 million acres on the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. LCV also strongly opposes drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

Newt Gingrich is expected to drop off a petition on Capitol Hill this week with around 1.2 million signatures asking Congress, “to lower gas prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves”. In comparison, Governors of six coastal states, representing 65.8 million constituents, have asked Congress not to lift the OCS moratorium. Gingrich has been leading a campaign entitled “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” This campaign has been funded by Big Oil for Big Oil. For more information see the article, ‘Destroy Here? Destroy Now? Gone Forever?’ at Alaska Wilderness League and follow the link to their fact sheet (www.alaskawild.org).

More drilling is not part of the global warming solution and can only increase our dependence on fossil fuels. While gas prices remain high it is expected that proposals will continue from pro-drilling members of Congress, but LCV is working hard to point out commonsense solutions like releasing oil from the 700 million barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and continue investments in alternative energy sources.

Bush Lifts Ban on Offshore Drilling, but Does Nothing to Save Americans Money at the Pump

Gas prices have reached absurdly high levels, everyone can agree on that. The solution to this national emergency, however, is a debate that has divided this Congress along party lines and distinguished environmental champions from profit seeking oil cronies.

President Bush has made his position clear over these past 8 years, and today he takes a step further in support of Big Oil to repeal the executive ban put into place by his father on offshore drilling.

His misguided resolution is one that has grave long-term effects, but fails to deliver any short-term relief for Americans at the pump.

The help that our nation needs to get out of this energy crisis comes in a plan backed by facts that will release Big Oil’s strangling grip on our wallets and protect us and our environment from the harmful consequences of over drilling.
The reality is that America’s supply (less than 3% of world oil reserves) can't possibly keep up with our demand (25% of world oil consumption). A few drops of oil, up to a decade away from making it to market, cannot alleviate our pain at the pump.
As it is, suppliers of oil and gas are sitting on almost 70 million acres of proven reserves, over 40 million of which are offshore. The have permission to drill there, but aren’t. As long as gas prices continue to rise, so does the value of those reserves.

America needs consumer choices, innovations to fuel our ingenuity, and alternatives that will cut our addiction to oil and put jobs and money back into the hands of working families. Short term relief will come in eliminating the record profits of Big Oil, cutting their money saving subsidies, and giving rebates to those who have been hurting most from high gas prices.

Stop rising costs at the pump by knowing which solution will deliver results. Protect our environment from irresponsible drilling, and rescue America from our energy crisis.

To read the AP article on Bush's lift of the executive ban on offshore drilling, which cites LCV President Gene Karpinski, go here.