The Thought for the Day
The Bear on Sep 17 2008 at 5:19 am | Filed under: Energy Policy
Environmental protections are necessary. Yet, legal challenges to oil and gas leases, aimed at blocking production, can drag on for years. As Congress has done in the past, we must impose reasonable limits on such environmental challenges. During the oil embargo of the 1970s, which put our national and economic security at risk, Congress allowed the waiver of environmental regulations, thus enabling 800 miles of pipeline to be built in Alaska within three years. In 2006, on a bipartisan basis, Congress again enacted a similar waiver to ensure that environmentalists did not block efforts to secure our border. This waiver will not cast aside our nation’s environmental laws, but instead prevent their abuse by radicals seeking to halt all American energy production.
Americans want American-made energy to power our economy, create jobs, and carry us into the future. Energy or drilling legislation that fails to contain limits on environmental litigation will also fail to provide American consumers any real relief.- Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)
One Response to “The Thought for the Day”
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Here’s the logical fix…the timetable that condemns the oil company doesn’t start, or run, as long as any legal challenge from any environmental group is in place. Take as long as you like to solve the legal challenges, but the lease payment is extended for free and the timetable doesn’t run until the OIL COMPANY is back on the clock…and any time it’s stopped, they should get an automatic one year extension, six months for shut down costs, and six months for run-up costs. It’s a crime to steal the time paid for by the oil company, and the government is the greatest accomplice while receiving the greatest amount of payment, both with the lease, and with the three/fourths profit from any eventual production.