[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 107 (Friday, June 29, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

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                               speech of

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 26, 2007

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2643) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2008, and for other purposes:
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, two days ago the House voted to defeat an 
amendment to H.R. 2643 offered by Mr. Peterson that would have lifted 
the moratoria on the Outer Continental Shelf for natural-gas only 
leasing. While I voted against the amendment, I wanted to elaborate on 
my views on this matter.
  I certainly support the gentleman's goal of increasing our access to 
domestic supplies of natural gas, and we have demonstrated that it is 
possible to explore and produce oil and gas in our oceans and remain 
environmentally responsible at the same time. There are dozens of 
platforms operating off the coast of California today, producing nearly 
30 million barrels of oil and 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas each 
year while releasing a negligible amount of that into the environment. 
There hasn't been a spill of larger than 50 barrels since 1996, and 
there has not been a truly significant spill in nearly 40 years.
  This demonstrates that when oil and gas development is done 
correctly, it can be a tremendous resource with little detrimental 
environmental impact. I support taking a close look at areas that are 
currently under a moratorium, so that we understand both the 
opportunities and the risks of opening up these regions.
  Unfortunately, we are sorely lacking up-to-date information on the 
oil and natural resources of our Outer Continental Shelf. Earlier today 
I chaired a hearing in the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, 
in which the Acting Director of the Minerals Management Service, Walter 
Cruickshank, testified that the most recent data on the Atlantic and 
Pacific coasts was collected in the late 1970s. When opponents of Outer 
Continental Shelf development argue that 80 percent of the oil and gas 
is already accessible to leasing, they are using badly outdated data.
  If we are going to have this discussion, we need to have a much 
better knowledge of the extent and value of the oil and gas resources 
of the Outer Continental Shelf. Only then will we be able to really 
look at the big picture and determine the proper balance between energy 
development and other important resource values, including tourism, 
fisheries and national security, to name a few.
  My primary concern with Mr. Peterson's amendment is that it proposed 
to allow for gas-only leases.
  Unfortunately, this idea is, quite simply, not feasible.
  There are various reasons I come to this conclusion. Most 
fundamentally, however, is the simple fact that oil and gas are often 
co-located and it is unrealistic to assume or assert that the industry 
would be interested in buying a lease that would preclude development 
of any oil found in the leased tract. As the former director of the 
Minerals Management Service, Johnnie Burton, said in a Senate hearing 
just last year, the vast majority of comments they received from the 
oil and gas industry on this idea were negative, because it was, ``not 
terribly practical.'' The fact is, as Ms. Burton put it, ``you never 
know what you are going to find until you drill.''
  I maintain that we should certainly be taking a hard look at those 
areas that are currently off limits, many of which may be appropriate 
places to explore. As Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources 
subcommittee, I look forward to working with my colleagues to help 
craft a forward-thinking energy bill that looks at the big picture, and 
admit that there is no silver bullet for solving our nation's energy 
challenges. We must increase domestic production of fossil fuels while 
at the same time focusing on renewables, conservation, and ensuring 
that we strike the proper balance of development of our nation's 
abundant resources and good environmental stewardship.

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