[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 92 (Friday, June 24, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE FASTER ACT

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                           HON. MIKE COFFMAN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2011

  Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Facilitating American Security Through Energy Resources Act--The FASTER 
Act. This legislation will require the Department of the Interior to 
increase and accelerate the approval of high-potential onshore oil and 
gas permits located on Federal lands.
  The current Administration has delayed, canceled, and reduced 
domestic energy production. The proof is in the numbers: in 2008 there 
were over 2,400 new oil and natural gas leases issued on Bureau of Land 
Management land and 2.6 million acres leased for production, but in 
2010 the number of new leases issued dropped to 1,308 and acres leased 
dropped to 1.3 million. In exchange for this massive reduction, 
Administrative officials only offer distant hope for renewable 
resources. This is extremely troubling.
  My bill would require Department of the Interior officials to 
identify, in consultation with industry, leases that have the highest 
energy potential and expeditiously move them through the permitting 
process.
  The Bureau of Land Management claims that it takes, on average, 206 
days to process a drilling permit application, but in reality the 
actual waiting time for many businesses is closer to two years. With 
the price of gas hovering around $4 per gallon in this fragile economic 
recovery, the economic damage caused by that wait time is completely 
unacceptable.
  Just this week the President acknowledged the energy crisis we are 
facing, and moved to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But this 
is the shortest of short term solutions, and will do nothing to address 
the structural problems facing our need to secure our national energy 
supply.
  The combined recoverable oil, natural gas, and coal resources of the 
United States are the largest in the world, and much of it is on 
Federal land. Our country's abundant natural resources represent not 
just tens of trillions of dollars, but also millions of high-paying 
jobs.
  I served two combat tours of duty in the Middle East with the Marine 
Corps and saw firsthand how volatile this region was then. It's even 
less stable now. We cannot afford to be dependent on these increasingly 
unstable nations for so much of our energy, particularly when we have 
such vast resources here at home. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this bill.

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