Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from New York and fellow cochair of the Natural Gas Caucus, Mr. Reed, for the time.

Places like the San Joaquin Valley, which I represent, are still struggling to create jobs in the wake of our Great Recession.

Energy production is a game changer not only in California, but around the country. These are exciting times with the findings in the Marcellus, the Barnett, the Bakkan, and the Monterey in California, which is estimated to be as large, if not larger, than the others that I mentioned.

Those who doubt the ability of States to regulate the oil and gas industry, I urge you to look at my home State of California which has put forth a long-term plan for responsible production of natural gas that the Governor signed into law last month.

Many other States are taking their lead because we know one size doesn't fit all and, therefore, I think that is a preferred approach.

As all of us in the House are looking to determine what our next generation economy will look like, efforts like the amendment that we are proposing here, I believe, are critically important. The United States is on track to become the largest oil and gas producer in the world in the next few years. These are exciting times. The potential of the United States, Canada, and Mexico will far surpass the Middle East in the production of fossil fuels.

We should take advantage, therefore, of this opportunity, this dividend that will benefit our economy and also benefit the geopolitics of the world that we live in that is so dangerous. This shift from being importers of our energy to an international exporter will yield significant dividends for both our economy and global security. Our amendment will show that the economic opportunity cost of blocking or continuing to delay responsible--responsible--development of natural gas simply should not be the case.

The fact is that this study is more about the numbers and the dollars and how we do it safely and telling this side of the story, the human side of the story.

I support the amendment.

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