Misguided Energy Policies Will Only Hinder Gulf Recovery

Statement

Today, H.R. 3534, the CLEAR Act, passed in a House Natural Resources Committee hearing. U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) voted against the CLEAR ACT.

Lummis released the following statement regarding committee passage of H.R. 3534:

"H.R. 3534 marginalizes the plight of the people of the Gulf who are desperate for solutions to the ongoing disaster. Americans want to see the leak stopped, the oil cleaned up, the communities who have been devastated by this disaster to be made whole again, and for BP to be held completely accountable.

"Unfortunately, H.R. 3534 does not help the situation in the Gulf. In fact, it uses the tragedy in the Gulf as a misguided opportunity to impose job-killing energy policies on Americans.

"Congress should concentrate its attention on what happened in the Gulf. Now is not the time to make dramatic policy changes that make American energy more difficult to produce, on and offshore, from traditional and nontraditional sources. The development and implementation of the best and safest offshore practices must be identified and put into place. Unfortunately this bill includes a host of unrelated items, which is why I offered an amendment to strip out the onshore provisions in H.R. 3534. Not only are these job-killing provisions, but they have no basis for inclusion in a bill that is intended to address the Gulf Coast disaster.

"Instead of utilizing an all-of-the-above energy approach, H.R. 3534 piles additional roadblocks on energy development on public lands in the West. It also effectively kills uranium production. Wyoming is the number one producer of uranium and leads the nation in uranium reserves. This bill attempts to modify how uranium is leased and recovered so that uranium production mirrors the process of oil and gas leasing and recovery. These minerals are like apples and oranges. The processes to lease and recover these resources should allow their contribution to America's energy mix in the most effective way.

"Americans don't want another set of brash and reckless policy items rammed down their throats. The Gulf, along with the rest of America, is facing tough economic times. It's foolish to discard entire sectors of America's energy mix which will in turn kill American jobs. It's time for Washington to listen to what the American people want. "

Lummis offered the following amendment to H.R. 3534:

· Lummis Amendment #111: Strikes onshore provisions (voted down)

The amendment strikes all of Subtitle B of Title II, reforms that affect onshore oil, gas, and uranium leasing requirements and have nothing to do with offshore drilling, the oil spill, or its clean-up.

· Lummis Amendment #21: Public Right to Know Requirements (passed)

The amendment would require the Secretary of Interior to make publically available information related to lawsuits brought against the Department regarding exploration, leasing, and production of energy resources. The Secretary would be required to disclose the lawsuits themselves, and the amount of tax-payer funded reimbursements to attorneys, either by court order or settlement.

· Lummis Amendment #07: Expanded Ethics Requirements (passed)

The amendment extends H.R. 3534's Section 104 ethics requirements beyond the three new bureaus of the former MMS to the entire Department of Interior. The amendment would ensure that the Secretary makes employees accountable for ethics problems across the Department.

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