[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6042-6043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PUERTO RICO GAS PIPELINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk once again about 
Puerto Rico, but this time it's a little different.
  I rise to note that Governor Luis Fortuno of Puerto Rico has actually 
said something I can agree with. Speaking about a proposed gas 
pipeline, the Republican Governor of Puerto Rico said, ``We cannot 
continue to depend on fossil fuels. Gasoducto is fossil fuels.''
  He went on to say, ``Tying us down to natural gas for 30 years would 
be a grave mistake.''
  He was referring to the construction of a natural gas pipeline on an 
island where beautiful beaches, mountains, and rain forests are both 
irreplaceable natural resources and part of the economic engine that 
drives tourism. A gas pipeline, that sounds like a dubious proposition. 
And I agree.
  Mr. Fortuno spoke those words 2 years ago as a candidate. Sadly, now 
that he's safely in office, Governor Fortuno has changed his mind. Now 
he enthusiastically supports not just gas pipelines but a much bigger, 
environmentally disruptive, and more expensive pipeline.
  And how the construction of this gigantic, supersized pipeline is 
being handled is another reason why I must speak out again on the civil 
rights crisis in Puerto Rico. The ruling party would rather people not 
notice that Mr. Fortuno and Governor Fortuno have opposite positions on 
the same gas pipeline, so they are working hard to move this project 
forward under the cover of night.
  Every day the ruling party answers this question: If you wanted to 
undertake a potentially dangerous, economically dubious, 
environmentally disastrous, and extremely unpopular project, how would 
you go about doing it?
  Here's the ruling party's answer: You circumvent feasibility studies. 
You avoid environmental impact studies. You ignore the standard 
permitting and licensing procedures. And you take every step possible 
to eliminate public hearings and public scrutiny.
  But how do you proceed without these necessary safeguards and 
information? Well, if you're the government of Puerto Rico and you want 
to build a 92-mile natural gas pipeline over mountains and through 
forests and lakes and rivers and across critical groundwater systems in 
Puerto Rico, you would amend a law designed to deal with natural 
resources so that you can bypass the normal permitting and public 
process.
  What the ruling party does is declare an ``energy emergency'' on the 
island. This government's energy emergency allows the pipeline to 
proceed, despite warnings from the Sierra Club, the environmental group 
Casa Pueblo, and even the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; despite 
residents' concerns that it would be constructed near schools and 
churches and residential areas; despite geologists noting that it is 
near earthquake faults and that there have been 2,500 seismic events in 
the last 3 years on the island, and one just felt all over the island 
just 2 days ago.
  The self-described ``energy emergency'' also helps hide the fact that 
you've given a $10 million contract to a pal of the Governor who has no 
experience at constructing gas pipelines. He does, however, have 
experience skiing with the Governor. And maybe that's why you run a 
slick, taxpayer-funded PR campaign that renames the project ``The Via 
Verde''--``The Green Way.''

[[Page 6043]]

  So instead of speaking to huge financial, human, and environmental 
costs, this Orwellian ad campaign calls a gas pipeline over mountains 
and through the woods and rivers a ``green way.'' Like a lot of people, 
I think it would be better to be named just ``Green Away,'' a magical 
cleanser that you apply to your forests, rivers, and lakes, and it 
makes them go away, along with the millions of green tax dollars.
  Here's an even more honest name for this project: ``The Wrong Way.'' 
Because it's wrong to spend the people's money on a project they don't 
want and hasn't been appropriately studied, as the newspaper El Nuevo 
Dia has shown in a series of reports.
  Candidate Fortuno was right; Governor Fortuno is wrong. It's time to 
shine some light on this matter.
  I have sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every and all 
Federal agencies that have addressed the pipeline in Puerto Rico. I 
will release the results so that the people know whom their government 
is meeting with, what documents exist, and what studies have been done 
to show the need for this project. Furthermore, I have already urged 
the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the permit request for the pipeline 
until experts testify, permits are applied for, community meetings are 
held, and environmental impact studies are done.
  Maybe the government can make the case for this project in the light 
of day, but they shouldn't be asking for a verdict without presenting 
their facts to the people first. It's time they stop doing things the 
``Via Verde'' way and start doing things the right way.
  The 1st of May all to Adjuntas.

                          ____________________