Bill Cassidy on Energy & Oil

The Left's 'energy' agenda betrays working Americans

Don't pick winners & losers in energy market

But Cassidy sees things differently: "Mary Landrieu's most recent advertisements tell us a lot about how central a role she believes the government should play in our daily lives," Cassidy said in an emailed statement. "Her ad tells us that the government should pick the winners and losers and the politically well-connected benefit." Cassidy went on to say Landrieu's ad reveals that she promotes a "Washington insider system" rather than a level playing field.

The Louisiana Democratic Party shot back at Cassidy's claims saying that it's a lawmaker's jobs to create jobs, which is exactly what Landrieu's ad explains.

New oil refineries; drill ANWR; drill offshore

• Developing and expanding alternative technologies such as solar, wind, and clean coal
• Lifting the bans on domestic offshore drilling and extracting oil from shale
• Opening ANWR and other potential energy sources to exploration and drilling
• Reducing the costly, complicated, and time-consuming maze of federal regulatory requirements affecting refineries.

Bar greenhouse gases from Clean Air Act rules.

Amends the Clean Air Act to:
1. exclude from the definition of the term `air pollutant` carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride; and
2. declare that nothing in the Act shall be treated as authorizing or requiring the regulation of climate change or global warming.

Member of House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has operated continuously--with various name changes and jurisdictional changes--for more than 200 years. The Committee has developed what is arguably the broadest (non-tax-oriented) jurisdiction of any Congressional committee. Today, it maintains principal responsibility for legislative oversight relating to telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, air quality and environmental health, the supply and delivery of energy, and interstate and foreign commerce in general. This jurisdiction extends over five Cabinet-level departments and seven independent agencies--from the Department of Energy, Health and Human Services, the Transportation Department to the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and Federal Communications Commission--and sundry quasi-governmental organizations.

Let states lease energy rights on federal lands.

Congressional Summary:Authorizes a state to establish a program covering the leasing and permitting processes, regulatory requirements, and any other provisions by which the state would exercise its rights to develop all forms of energy resources on available federal land in the state.

Proponent`s argument for bill: (The Heritage Foundation): This important piece of legislation would allow state control of energy resources on federal lands. America has harnessed technological advances in recent years in drilling and extracting energy resources that have caused a surge in domestic oil and gas in several areas of the country. Most of that production has occurred on private and state-owned lands, not federal lands where output has been on decline. The benefits of transferring power to the states over their own energy decisions: States have an interest in both boosting their economies by tapping into the energy resources available to them and protecting the environment. More importantly, they are best suited to fulfill these two goals, not the federal government.

Opponent`s argument against bill:(The Wilderness Society): Oil and gas development can do serious damage to wildlands and waters, especially when it takes place in sensitive areas. The federal government began leasing public lands for energy development in 1920. We see energy development as a valid use of some public lands, but there are some wild places that must be protected. We work to ensure that the most stringent environmental precautions are applied when oil and gas development occurs on our public lands and that development does not happen in fragile wild areas. The Wilderness Society also makes sure that our most ecologically sensitive areas, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, remain permanently off limits to oil and gas companies.