Re:Energy Exploration–Republicans Pursue A Failed Energy Policy…Again

No you’re not experiencing ‘de ja vu’, just another misguided energy proposal from House Republicans unable to craft sound energy policies.Today the House Resources Committee passed the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, a risky proposal from Chairman Richard Pombo that would allow for new drilling off our coast. I am disappointed that the committee endorsed a failed energy policy that the Congress and the American people have repeatedly rejected over the last 25 years. Chairman Pombo’s proposal is the latest in a series of fatally flawed proposals from House Republicans that rely on drilling off our coasts to solve our nation’s energy needs. There is a clear consensus that offshore drilling is the slowest, dirtiest, and most expensive way to address our energy demands.Chairman Pombo celebrates this legislation as a ‘hybrid’ solution to our energy crisis, when really it represents a ‘Frankenstein’ approach that seeks to coble together elements of several ill-advised Republican energy proposals that have been rejected individually in the past. This proposal contains Rep. Jindal’s provisions on revenue sharing that will bust the budget and add tens of billions of dollars to the national deficit. It has Rep. Peterson’s provisions to allow so-called ‘natural gas-only’ drilling, a proposal that even the Bush Administration and oil companies reject as unworkable. Additionally, Chairman Pombo’s proposal allows national ocean policy be dictated by the whims of a handful of states. At the end of the day, Pombo’s proposal is built on the same faulty foundation that energy independence can be found at the end of a drill bit.

I will continue to work with my colleagues to oppose this proposal and I am hopeful that House will reject this latest sham proposal and pursue real solutions to our energy needs such as reducing consumption, increasing efficiency and investing in alternative energy sources.