[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 91 (Thursday, June 17, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S5114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr.  
        Bingaman):
  S. 3509. A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to promote the 
research and development of technologies and best practices for the 
safe development and extraction of natural gas and other petroleum 
resources, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, today I am joined by Senator 
Shaheen and Chairman Bingaman in introducing a bill to help prevent 
future disasters like the one we are seeing unfold in the Gulf of 
Mexico. Our bill focuses Federal oil and gas research and development 
funds on well safety and accident prevention. There are many lessons to 
be learned from this tragedy, but one of the most important is that we 
need more advanced technology to prevent future accidents and ensure 
the safety of our oil and gas workers.
  This oil spill has highlighted many problems with the operation of 
the oil and gas industry and the threat that accidents have to our 
families, economy and environment. While the industry has opened up new 
areas to oil and gas production, developments in safety and well 
control technology have not always kept pace. That is unacceptable. 
Eleven people lost their lives during this tragedy, and we do not yet 
know the full extent of the economic, health and environmental damage 
that will be caused by the spill.
  Unfortunately, out of control wells are not a unique circumstance. 
Over the last month, two major onshore incidents occurred as well. 
First, a gas well explosion in West Virginia injured seven workers and 
then another occurred in Pennsylvania where it appears that a blowout 
preventer did not work properly.
  It is clear that oil is and will continue to be an important energy 
source for us for many years to come, especially for our transportation 
sector. But, while we will continue to drill for oil and gas, we cannot 
repeat the mistakes, negligence or recklessness that led to this 
disaster. We must learn from this accident and aggressively develop 
better technology to stop these spills from happening in the first 
place, both onshore and offshore.
  That is why I am introducing the Safer Oil and Gas Production 
Research and Development Act. This bill would change an existing oil 
and gas research and development program within the Department of 
Energy, DOE, to re-focus it specifically on technologies to improve the 
safety of exploration and production activities, including well 
integrity, well control, blowout prevention, and well plugging and 
abandonment.
  In addition, the legislation would also require DOE to publish an 
annual update of the program's work and outline recommendations for the 
implementation of its research findings. This oversight is important so 
that we can ensure this information is public, transparent, and readily 
available to entrepreneurs and others who could further develop these 
technologies.
  I should emphasize that my bill is only one of the many steps we must 
take to respond to this accident. Not only do we need to work to 
prevent future accidents, we need to make sure we are better prepared 
to respond when they occur.
  It is unacceptable that the spill prevention and response technology 
we are using today is the same as was used in the last disaster--the 
Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, over 20 years ago. That is why I am a proud 
co-sponsor of Senator Shaheen's bill to create a new program at the 
Department of the Interior to research and develop spill response and 
mitigation technology. Her bill, which also is being introduced today, 
is a perfect complement to mine--both programs are needed to move our 
oil drilling technology forward.
  Our two bills will take common-sense steps to improve drilling 
safety, prevent accidents and help ensure that if an accident does 
occur, we are better prepared to respond. This tragedy is a wake-up 
call that proves that we need to begin changing the way we generate and 
consume energy.

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