[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2722-S2723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GULF SHUTDOWN ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, tomorrow, May 6, will mark the 1-year 
anniversary of the formal moratorium placed on Gulf of Mexico energy 
production by President Obama and Secretary Salazar. I wish to speak on 
the eve of that occasion, particularly as our constituents continue to 
see the price at the pump go up and up, with really no end in sight. I 
think those two facts are deeply related because I think this 
moratorium, which continues as a de facto moratorium--a ``permatorium'' 
or a permit logjam to this day--is really one of the most poorly 
thought out, mismanaged, and ill-conceived energy decisions in terms of 
domestic energy production in our history.
  The first of these moratoriums in the gulf--there are actually three 
different formal moratoriums--was announced on behalf of President 
Obama by Secretary Salazar 1 year ago tomorrow, May 6, 2010. It was 
done, in retrospect, we find out, very hastily and without scientific 
backing and justification. I say that because after that first 
moratorium was put down on May 6, 2010, on June 22 a Federal judge, 
Martin Feldman, of the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled against this 
job-crushing moratorium. It banned drilling below 500 feet of water for 
6 months. But Judge Feldman put it on hold because he found that under 
Federal law it had failed to properly weigh a number of factors, 
including the economic impact it would have on the industry and 
surrounding communities.
  I might add, in a hearing we had in the Senate about the 
administration's decision to place the moratorium in effect, it was 
shocking to hear administration officials say very directly--no holds 
barred--that they never considered any economic impact in the decision 
whatsoever. Again, failing to properly weigh the economic impact of the 
decision has been a chronic problem in some agencies, such as the EPA.
  Unfortunately, this administration seems to have brought that same 
knee-jerk reaction to the Interior Department with the same economic 
illiteracy. In the Interior Department's infinite wisdom, on July 12, 
Secretary Salazar issued a backup second moratorium. The court struck 
down the first moratorium on the basis of existing Federal law, so he 
just came and issued a second moratorium on deepwater drilling. The 
second moratorium would soon be met with resistance and disappointment 
as coastal Louisiana communities would realize there was nothing they 
could do to stop Interior, which seemed hell-bent on adversely 
impacting their jobs.
  On October 12, Secretary Salazar celebrated an illusory victory by 
lifting that moratorium, and at the time, he claimed that ``the policy 
position we are articulating today is that we are open for business.'' 
That is what Secretary Ken Salazar said on October 12. Unfortunately, 
those of us who live in Louisiana and along the gulf coast know that is 
not true. What he should have said is, the policy position we are 
articulating today is that we are open for business as long as you 
don't need a permit from the Interior Department, because that second 
formal moratorium was lifted, but that brought us to the initiation of 
the third moratorium--not a formal moratorium but a de facto one, a 
permatorium, a complete permit logjam in this administration and at the 
Department of the Interior. Again, this has been commonly and 
accurately referred to as a de facto moratorium, sometimes a 
permatorium, an absolute permit logjam. Secretary Salazar has 
perpetuated that, and Director Bromwich has perpetuated that. They 
repeatedly stated it doesn't exist, but the facts, the statistics, the 
numbers make bare that lie.
  It would not be for 4 more months--until February 28 of this year--
that the Interior Department would issue the very first permit to drill 
in deep water an exploratory well. So, again, big celebration, big 
announcements that the formal moratorium was lifted, but for 4 months 
zero permits and only 4 months later the first deepwater exploratory 
permit.
  To date, even since February 28 of this year, there have only been 12 
deepwater permits issued in the gulf. That pace is well below the pace 
before the BP disaster--about 60 percent slower than the prespill 
pace. This is for shallow and deep water combined. The pace of only 
deepwater new well permits--permits that would increase domestic 
supplies and our reserves--is forthcoming at the average pace of one 
per month--just a trickle, just a tiny percentage of the predisaster 
pace.

  Tomorrow will be 1 year since the Obama administration implemented 
this moratorium policy, the first of three crushing moratoriums, two 
formal moratoriums, the ongoing de facto moratorium. The Energy 
Information Administration--and that is a nonpartisan division of the 
Department of Energy--is now estimating that the falloff in domestic 
production this year alone will be about 200,000 barrels per day--that 
is a lot of oil, 200,000 barrels per day--and an additional 200,000 
barrels per day in 2012. To put this falloff in production that is 
expected from the Obama administration's policy in perspective, as a 
result of the permitting logjam, by 2012 we would lose as much 
production in the Gulf of Mexico as we currently import from Brazil and 
Colombia combined. These are the two countries, by the way, that are 
supported with taxpayer-funded guaranteed projects related to their 
energy production. This falloff in production in the gulf by 2012 is 
roughly equivalent also to what we imported in January from Iraq.
  There are several points I would like to highlight for tomorrow's 
anniversary of the initiation of this moratorium policy.
  First, the price of gasoline at the pump is now $3.98 a gallon. It 
has more than doubled since President Obama took office. There is 
perhaps not a greater antistimulus for our economy than the doubling of 
the price at the pump.
  Second, seven deepwater rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico. They are 
gone,

[[Page S2723]]

and they are not coming back anytime soon. In addition, five are cold-
stacked or without a contract. That is a total of 12 rigs. Ironically, 
that is exactly the same number of deepwater permits the Interior 
Department has issued--a trickle compared to pre-BP levels.
  Third, what minor credit I should give the Interior Department for 
this abysmal pace of permitting will be noted when I release my hold on 
the nomination of Dan Ashe. I am currently holding that nomination of a 
top-level Interior Department official. I said I would hold it until we 
got at least 15 deepwater exploratory permits. At the time I initiated 
that, there were zero. As I said, that is now finally up to 12. I said 
I would lift the hold when we got to 15. We are just three away. We 
will get there. I will lift the hold. But that is merely a trickle of 
what our pace needs to be.
  Fourth, today I will be introducing an important piece of 
legislation. It is called the Agency Overreach Moratorium Act. We need 
a moratorium. We need a moratorium on regulatory overreach, agency 
overreach, as we see in the Interior Department, in EPA, in many other 
agencies. This legislation is intended to prevent Federal action that 
would unilaterally destroy jobs on Federal lands on the OCS. That is 
happening every day at the Interior Department. Instead of issuing 
permits to find American energy, they are issuing regulations, the most 
recent on a whole new category of contractors--completely unnecessary 
because they were already regulating the drillers. That is regulatory 
overreach, and that is job-killing action. My Agency Overreach 
Moratorium Act will lay out the real moratorium we need on job-killing 
action out of Washington, out of this administration, not on domestic 
energy production.
  I thank all of my colleagues, and I hope we will all come together 
soon around a commonsense, proactive domestic energy policy. It needs 
to include a lot. I am a fervent believer in all of the above, but it 
certainly needs to start lifting the continuing de facto moratorium on 
U.S. energy production, on U.S. jobs, on good additional Federal 
revenue to the U.S. Treasury to lower our deficit if we are going to 
get on the right energy path.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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