COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
10:00 a.m.

• Official Hearing Transcript
• Hot Air Alert - 50 Billion Barrels of Oil Not Enough for Obama Admin to Stop Playing Politics with America’s Energy Security (5/9/2012)

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Evaluating President Obama’s Offshore Drilling Plan and Impacts on Our Future"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

The Honorable Tommy Beaudreau
Director
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

BACKGROUND:

When President Obama took office, nearly 100% of our offshore areas were open to American energy production. Last November, the Obama Administration released a draft offshore drilling plan that closes the majority of our offshore areas to energy production through 2017. The President's plan prohibits offshore drilling in new areas and only allows lease sales to occur in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska – leaving portions of the Arctic and the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts off-limits. In the face of high gasoline prices and difficult economic times, our country cannot afford to say 'no' to new American energy and new American jobs.