Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) issued the following statement in advance of President Obama’s speech regarding his energy plan:

“Today, President Obama will deliver remarks regarding his ‘comprehensive energy plan.’  In light of the recent federal court ruling that vacated the existing five-year offshore drilling plan, it is more important than ever for President Obama to use this opportunity to pledge that his Administration will ensure that America’s offshore resources remain an important part of our domestic energy supply.   Unfortunately, the Administration has yet to say anything of substance about this ruling for over five days.

“Republicans have proposed an all-of-the-above energy plan that includes renewable wind, solar, hydro, and biomass, so I certainly support the President’s desire to expand the use of renewable energy.  But an energy plan without oil and natural gas is like a bicycle without wheels.  If the Administration does not act soon to permanently lift the moratorium on offshore drilling, Americans will lose access to enormous amounts of new domestic energy and thousands of high paying jobs in the middle of a serious recession.” 

Background
On April 17^th, a federal D.C. District Court vacated and directed the Secretary of the Interior to revise the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) Five Year Lease Sale Program, which potentially expanded oil and natural gas leasing opportunities in areas of the OCS  in 2007-2012.  The Court threw out the plan because it questioned the Interior Department’s use of data regarding environmental impacts of OCS development in areas of Alaska.  

According to the Institute for Energy Research, the existing 5-year plan encompasses areas with a mean resource potential of 10 billion barrels of oil and 44 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  At today’s prices, this represents a domestic investment of $669 billion dollars. 

# # #

Print version of this document