Lummis Slams Job-Killing Energy Bill

Statement

Today, U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) gave the following statement during floor debate on H.R. 3534, the CLEAR Act, legislation that will kill American jobs and significantly hinder American energy independence:

"Americans want the spill cleaned up, BP to pay for it, jobs to be restored, and the federal government to do a better job of inspecting for worker safety and environmental safety.

"To my colleagues in the majority party: We agree - take "yes' for an answer.

"But what does this bill do? It raises taxes; it removes the BLM land managers from doing land management- and over the objection of the director of the Bureau of Land Management.

"Only Congress would view this bill as a response to what Americans want. No wonder Congress has an approval rating of 11%.

"This is nuts Mr. Chairman, this is nuts."

Background:

The latest version of the CLEAR Act:

- Imposes job-killing changes and higher taxes for onshore natural gas and oil production. It fundamentally changes leasing onshore by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which affects not just leasing for natural gas and oil, but also for coal and renewable energy including wind and solar. Over the objections of the Director of the BLM, who currently overseas onshore energy development on federal lands, the CLEAR act strips the BLM of this authority and transfers it to the newly created bureaus formerly known as the Mineral Management Service.

- Raises taxes by over $22 billion in ten years -- with the taxes eventually climbing to nearly $3 billion per year. This is a direct tax on natural gas and oil that will raise energy prices for American families and businesses, hurt domestic jobs, and increase our dependence on foreign oil. This tax only applies to U.S. oil and gas production on federal leases -- giving an advantage to foreign oil and hurting American energy jobs.

- Requires the federal takeover of state authority to permit in state waters, which reverses sixty years of precedent. The mismanagement, corruption and oversight failures of the federal government are being used as justification to expand federal control by seizing management from the states.

- Allows 10% of all offshore revenues -- an amount possibly as high as $500 million per year -- to be spent on a new fund controlled by the Interior Secretary to issue ocean research grants (ORCA fund). There is no requirement that the fund is used for the Gulf region or anything related to oil spills or offshore drilling. These funds can be earmarked.

- Establishes "marine spatial planning" regulatory authority -- which allows for ocean zoning that could lead to restrictions on fishing, energy production and even onshore activities such as farming. This vague new regulatory authority could cost fishing jobs, energy jobs, manufacturing jobs, farming jobs, and many more jobs that may impact waterways that drain into the ocean.

· The bill includes unlimited spill liability for offshore operators, which could effectively eliminate independent producers from operating offshore if they cannot obtain insurance policies to cover their operations. According to an independent study from IHS Global Insight, "by 2020 an exclusion of the independents from the Gulf of Mexico would eliminate 300,000 jobs and result in a loss of $147 billion in federal, state, and local taxes from the Gulf region over 10 years."

· Democrat leaders deleted an amendment adopted without objection by Lummis that would require the Department of Interior to track and report on lawsuits brought against the Department by environmental organizations, as well as the attorney's fees paid to those organizations.

· Democrat leaders also deleted a provision adopted without objection in the House Natural Resources Committee just two weeks ago to establish a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the oil spill -- a provision that has also passed a Senate Committee in a bipartisan vote.

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