Steve Austria on Energy & Oil

Drill for oil & natural gas; develop nuclear

Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.

Congressional Summary:
• Makes available for leasing, in the 2012-2017 five-year oil and gas leasing program, outer Continental Shelf areas that are estimated to contain more than 2.5 billion barrels of oil; or are estimated to contain more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
• Makes the production goal for the 2012-2017 five-year oil and gas leasing program an increase by 2027 in daily production of at least 3 million barrels of oil, and 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:
[Rep. Young, R-AK]: The Americans suffering from $4 a gallon gas today must feel like they're experiencing a sense of deja vu. In 2008, when gasoline prices reached a record high of $4.11 per gallon, the public outcry forced Congress to act. That fall, Congress lifted the offshore drilling ban that had been in place for decades. Three years later, most Americans would likely be shocked to learn that no energy development has happened in these new areas.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Markey, D-MA]. In the first 3 months of this year, Exxon-Mobil made $10 billion off of the American consumer; Shell made $8 billion; BP made $7 billion. So what are these companies asking for? These companies are now asking that we open up the beaches of California, Florida & New England to drill for oil. People who live near those beaches don't want oil coming in the way it did in the Gulf of Mexico. Right now, those oil companies are centered down in the Gulf of Mexico. People are concerned because those companies have blocked any new safety reforms that would protect against another catastrophic spill. We have to oppose this bill because, first of all, they already have 60 million acres of American land that they haven't drilled on yet, which has about 11 billion barrels of oil underneath it and an equivalent amount of natural gas. This bill is just a giveaway to Exxon-Mobil and Shell.

Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.

Congressional Summary:Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from promulgating any regulation the emission of a greenhouse gas (GHG) to address climate change.
• Excludes GHGs from the definition of "air pollutant" for purposes of addressing climate change.
• Exempts from such prohibition existing regulations on fuel efficiency, research, or CO2 monitoring.
• Repeals and makes ineffective other rules and actions concerning GHGs.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Waxman, D-CA]: This bill is a direct assault on the Clean Air Act. Its premise is that climate change is a hoax and carbon pollution does not endanger health and welfare. But climate change is real. It is caused by pollution, and it is a serious threat to our health and welfare. We need to confront these realities. American families count on the EPA to keep our air and water clean. But this bill has politicians overruling the experts at EPA, and it exempts our biggest polluters from regulation. If this bill is enacted, the EPA's ability to control dangerous carbon pollution will be gutted.

Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution.

1. issuing, trading, and verifying renewable electricity credits; and
2. prescribing standards to define and measure electricity savings from energy efficiency and energy conservation measures.

Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Rep. ED MARKEY (D, MA-7): For the first time in the history of our country, we will put enforceable limits on global warming pollution. At its core, however, this is a jobs bill. It will create millions of new, clean-energy jobs in whole new industries with incentives to drive competition in the energy marketplace. It sets ambitious and achievable standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass so that by 2020, 20% of America's energy will be clean.

Opponent's argument to vote No:Rep. BOB GOODLATTE (R, VA-6): I agree that this bill has very important consequences, but those consequences are devastating for the future of the economy of this country. It's a fantasy that this legislation will turn down the thermostat of the world by reducing CO2 gas emissions when China & India & other nations are pumping more CO2 gas into the atmosphere all the time. We would be far better served with legislation that devotes itself to developing new technologies before we slam the door on our traditional sources of energy like coal and oil and and nuclear power. We support the effort for energy efficiency. We do not support this kind of suicide for the American economy. Unfortunately, cap and trade legislation would only further cripple our economy.

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.

Drill the Outer Continental Shelf; & license new nuke plants.

A Roadmap for America's Energy Future:
• Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a lease sale every 270 days in each outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning region for which there is a commercial interest in purchasing federal oil and gas leases for OCS production.
• Requires the federal share of proceeds of lease sales from newly open areas to be deposited in the American-Made Energy Trust Fund (established by this Act).
• Requires the Secretary to accept, in satisfaction of mitigation requirements, proposals for mitigation measures on a site away from the area impacted by exploration and production activities.
• Directs the Secretary to establish a leasing program for oil, gas and oil shale within the Alaska Coastal Plain (ANWR).
• Requires the Secretary to hold a lease sale offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for oil shale development.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to develop, construct, and operate a coal-to-liquid facility.
• States it is the policy of the United States to facilitate the continued development and growth of a safe and clean nuclear energy industry through reductions in financial, regulatory, and technical barriers to construction and operation.
• Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to issue operating permits for 200 new commercial nuclear reactors.
• Removes all current statutory limitations upon the amount of radiological material that can be placed in Yucca Mountain. Requires the NRC to replace them with new limits based on scientific and technical analysis of the full capacity of Yucca Mountain for the storage of radiological material.
• Prohibits the President from blocking or hindering spent nuclear fuel recycling activities.
• Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit consideration of the climate change-related impact of a greenhouse gas upon any species of fish, wildlife, or plant.