[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 25, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRESSIONAL REPLACEMENT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ENERGY-RESTRICTING AND 
                  JOB-LIMITING OFFSHORE DRILLING PLAN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 24, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 6082) to 
     officially replace, within the 60-day Congressional review 
     period under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, President 
     Obama's Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas 
     Leasing Program (2012-2017) with a congressional plan that 
     will conduct additional oil and natural gas lease sales to 
     promote offshore energy development, job creation, and 
     increased domestic energy production to ensure a more secure 
     energy future in the United States, and for other purposes:

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Chair, I oppose H.R. 6082, the Congressional 
Replacement of President Obama's Energy-Restricting and Job-Limiting 
Offshore Drilling Plan.
  This is the current Majority's 12th giveaway for Big Oil in the last 
18 months. I've consistently opposed these prior 11 measures on the 
House floor. The Senate has failed to pass any of the prior bills, and 
President Obama has consistently stated his intention to veto those 
measures.
  The majority claims that this bill is about lowering energy prices 
and creating jobs.
  Let's be clear--this is a bill against President Obama's offshore 
drilling plan.
  Today, more than 75 percent of the offshore oil and gas resources are 
available for drilling under that plan. We have 50 percent more 
floating drilling rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico than we did 
prior to the BP spill and have more total rigs operating in the United 
States than does the rest of the world combined. Domestic oil 
production is at an 18 year high and oil and gas companies continue to 
enjoy substantial profits--all on top of tax breaks totaling over $4 
billion per year. In addition, this year the U.S. became a net exporter 
of oil for the first time since 1949.
  My home state of Hawaii relies on imported oil from both foreign and 
U.S. sources for 90 percent of our primary energy. We use oil to 
generate our electricity and to fuel our vehicles. We also pay three 
times the average price that the mainland pays for that electricity and 
our gas prices are constantly the highest in the nation--despite all of 
the drilling that is currently happening.
  That's why this attack on President Obama's comprehensive approach to 
energy--producing more oil and boosting clean energy--is especially 
troubling.
  It's also troubling that the majority seem to be consciously ignoring 
key safety recommendations and preventing proper environmental reviews.
  We all remember April 20, 2010. That is the date that the Deepwater 
Horizon oil rig exploded. This accident killed 11 crew members and 
injured numerous others. Over 4 million barrels of oil gushed into the 
Gulf of Mexico, and the spill could not be contained for almost 3 
months.
  In response President Obama created the bipartisan National 
Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. 
The commission concluded that if more effective oversight of safety and 
environmental protection had been conducted--by both the government and 
the industry itself--the disaster could have been avoided. The 
commission then made a series of recommendations to prevent another 
spill from occurring.
  Representative Markey introduced these recommendations as legislation 
in January of 2011. I'm proud to be a cosponsor of this bill, H.R. 501. 
However, I'm disappointed that there has not even been a committee 
hearing on this important legislation.
  That's not all. On July 24, 2012, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board 
released a report which found that at the time of the 2010 Deepwater 
Horizon blowout, BP and other companies involved in that accident had 
failed to implement safety recommendations made by the Board in 2007.
  The 2007 recommendations stemmed from the investigation of a March 
2005 explosion at BP's Texas City Refinery.
  These are real disasters with real consequences for workers and 
communities.
  At the same time, the facts and record are clear: These disasters are 
preventable and Congress can and should do something to address them.
  The bill also undermines a series of laws intended to ensure that we 
are good stewards of our natural resources--including the National 
Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, National Historic 
Preservation Act, and Clean Water Act. Ensuring compliance with these 
laws protects public health, communities, and the environment. These 
environmental reviews are also necessary to avoid costly and time-
consuming litigation for all parties.
  More than that, this is a matter of ensuring that the resources we 
have can be utilized responsibly to support jobs and economic growth in 
industries other than drilling, like tourism for example.
  The bill also opens huge areas on the East Coast, stretching from 
Maine to South Carolina, off of Southern California, in the Alaska 
Arctic and in the area around the important fishery of Bristol Bay off 
Alaska. Opening these areas ignores concerns raised by nearly every 
stakeholder other than oil and gas companies.
  These include significant issues raised by states and local 
communities, concerns about important fishing areas, and even concerns 
raised by our military will go unheeded if this bill were to become 
law.
  Finally, H.R. 6082 would require that the Department of Interior 
conduct a single multi-sale Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 
the Atlantic, Pacific and Bristol Bay. Combined EIS documents are 
usually done for lease sales in areas where the conditions are well 
known and similar. However, these are three wildly different 
environments that merit their own considerations.
  Just to be clear, those who stand to lose under this bill include: 
states, localities, fisherman, the military, average citizens and small 
businesses that currently rely on these areas for recreation, tourism, 
and other purposes.
  The winners under this bill: the oil and gas drilling industry.
  Hawaii is a case study for why we must end our reliance on fossil 
fuels and work harder to support the development of a broad range of 
clean, renewable, locally-produced fuels. Drilling more won't decrease 
the global competition for oil, and it won't do anything to reduce 
energy prices in the long-term. High energy prices act as a tax on all 
of us and an anchor on our economy, so if we are truly going to have 
the most competitive economy in the 21st century we need to develop 
affordable alternatives. Developing these alternatives will give the 
U.S. the upper hand both in terms of costs to our economy, and in 
developing new industries that can create jobs for the next century.
  Instead, the bill before us keeps us on the same path of dependence 
we've been on. This bill is a failure for our economy in the long term, 
fails to address the safety reforms for offshore drilling that numerous 
experts have advocated for, and seeks to give oil companies another 
windfall without ensuring that they are paying their fair share to 
drill on public lands.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this terribly shortsighted and ill-
advised legislation.

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