Gulf Coast Can't Afford CLEAR Disaster The Hill Op-Ed Friday, July 30, 2010 By Rep. Bill Cassidy Two man-made disasters have hit the Gulf Coast: the BP oil spill and the President’s moratorium on energy production.  A third disaster is scheduled for a vote in the House today. Two hundred twenty-six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig collapsed, the Consolidated Land, Energy,… Read more »

A massive federal power grab is included in the Democrat’s CLEAR Act in the form of a provision that requires the federal government to take over energy permitting in state waters. This is in response to the oil spill that occurred in federal waters and was supposed to be regulated by the federal government? It has absolutely nothing to do with states. The mismanagement, corruption and… Read more »

In a move that could further deteriorate the Gulf’s economy, the CLEAR Act would set unlimited liability on offshore operators.  While there is bipartisan agreement on the need for Congress to address and adjust existing liability caps, the unintended consequences of completely eliminating the cap could cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Small, independent oil and gas producers… Read more »

Although the House is expected to vote tomorrow on “oil spill” legislation (The CLEAR Act), things aren’t going as well over on the other side of the Capitol.  According to The Hill: “Senate Democrats and Republicans appear on a collision course that would sink chances of passing oil-spill and energy legislation amid disagreements over both substance and process.” House… Read more »

The CLEAR Act stretches far beyond the Gulf oil spill and offshore drilling by creating Regional Coordination Councils to implement marine spatial planning or “ocean zoning.”  This could lock-up large portions of the ocean to fishing, energy production and other recreational activities.  The mandatory zoning of oceans could deal a further significant blow to the Gulf region’s economy that… Read more »

A hallmark of this Democrat controlled Congress has been the dramatic increase in spending, and they keep that tradition going strong with the CLEAR Act.  The bill includes an over $30 billion increase in new, mandatory spending over the next 30 years for programs that are completely unrelated to the oil spill. Even more egregious, Democrats have added new language that expressly allows… Read more »

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs kept the dream of a cap-and-trade national energy tax alive this week by confirming that it’s still not too late to exploit the tragedy in the Gulf in order to push through this job-killing measure. On Tuesday during his press briefing, Gibbs said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that climate measures could be attached the oil spill bills being… Read more »

In yet another example of House Democrats exploiting the oil spill to pass unrelated legislation, the CLEAR Act (H.R. 3534) makes fundamental changes to onshore federal energy leasing.  This will not only affect leasing for natural gas and oil, but also for renewable energy like wind and solar.  In addition, the new $22 billion energy tax would also apply to onshore oil and… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following statement on the House floor today regarding the Democrats’ CLEAR Act  - a bill that would kill jobs, raise taxes and increase spending: Click here to watch the floor speech “Instead of directly addressing the Gulf oil spill tragedy, Congress is voting this week on legislation, the CLEAR… Read more »

Other Energy Issues Seep into Spill Legislation July 28, 2010, 7:33PM Houston Chronicle Jennifer A. Dlouhy WASHINGTON — Energy legislation advancing in the Senate would force companies to reveal closely held details about the chemical cocktails they use to extract natural gas from shale rock, imposing the first federal regulation on hydraulic fracturing. The disclosure provision is… Read more »