Energy

Floor Speech

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it's been a tough week for American consumers. Yesterday, it was reported that under the Federal Bureau of Land Management's new proposed onshore hydraulic fracturing regulations, businesses will suffer--as will the rate of production in developing our Nation's plentiful natural gas. Yes, a clean and affordable resource.

Reuters News reports:

The Obama administration hopes the rules on public lands will serve as a model for State oversight of drilling on private lands.

This plan is no secret. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said as much in her testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee in July. Make no mistake: these Federal regulations are being developed as a model to be used across the country.

The development of our Nation's domestic energy resources has been one of the few bright spots in a struggling economy. It's very clear how and why this era of growth and innovation came to be. Take a look at the production rates on State and private lands versus Federal lands and you will see why. Production is up on the former and way down on the latter. Unfortunately, the administration wants to close this gap by putting the Federal Government in control and imposing costly new mandates everywhere that production is taking place.

It's bad for business, Mr. Speaker. What's worse, it's bad for consumers by making the cost of heating their homes that much more expensive.

And it doesn't stop with natural gas. Coal is also in the administration's crosshairs. Only with coal, the White House has a hair trigger, a scope, and a silencer. Case in point: a sweeping new coal regulation quietly being put forward by the administration known as the Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

Yesterday, Joseph Pizarchik, Director of the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Interior, testified before the House Natural Resources Committee on the new rule. The Interior Department has largely stonewalled the Committee's investigation into the rewrite of the coal regulation and failed to comply with multiple subpoenas.

Similar to the Director's testimony, the entire rulemaking process for this new regulation has lacked transparency. What we do know is that the administration has failed to even consider the new rule's economic impact on local economies, such as those in my home State of Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, the conduct of OSM is emblematic of the Obama administration's complete disregard for the health of our economy. As many as 220,000 jobs are at risk in the Appalachia region alone as a consequence of the proposed rule. Thousands more are at stake nationally.

DOI regulations require that OSM collaborate ``to the fullest extent possible'' with the States developing this rule. DOI regulations also require that OSM collaborate with States ``at the earliest possible time'' so that all stakeholders can evaluate the rule and consider possible alternatives.

Yesterday, when asked whether or not States have been provided with information regarding the new rule and related changes, the OSM Director stated he does not believe that there have been any contacts during the last year with the impacted States. When further pressed as to whether his office had made any contact with States and other cooperating agencies, the Director stated that he was unaware of any such communications.

Mr. Speaker, this White House will stop at no end to assault the fossil fuels industry along with the millions of jobs it supports and the low energy costs that it provides.

Mr. Speaker, protecting the environment and developing our abundant natural resources, such as coal and natural gas, are not mutually exclusive, but this is not something that this administration would like to admit.

This week, the administration continued to move ahead with policies that will cost more jobs and further harm family budgets through higher electricity rates. This week, the administration continued to grossly underestimate the cumulative impact of their regulatory actions. And this week was another tough week for the American consumer.

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