Sen. Barrasso's legislation would allow oil and gas companies to skirt common sense protections for air and water quality, wildlife habitats, and cultural and recreational resources. It would also drag us back to the days of the same safety short cuts that led to disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf

Senator Barrasso’s “American Energy and Western Jobs Act” S. 1027Potential Amendment to S. 916/917 at Senate ENR Business Meeting

Sen. Jeff Bingaman is bringing S. 916 and 917 up for mark up and vote by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee this Thursday. The legislation is intended to address the BP Gulf Oil Spill disaster and assess petroleum reserves off our coasts.

However, the legislation presents an opportunity for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to pay back his campaign contributors and introduce any number of items from his wish list of amendments, including gutting Sec. Ken Salazar’s onshore drilling reforms.

Sen. Barrasso has taken <http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00006236&type=I> $301,650 in oil and gas contributions since taking office four years ago. That works out to a little over $75,400 per year.

His legislation would allow oil and gas companies to skirt common sense protections for air and water quality, wildlife habitats, and cultural and recreational resources. It would also drag us back to the days of the same safety short cuts that led to disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf.

Last week, Mike Dombeck, former U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director (1994-1997) and U.S. Forest Service Chief (1997-2001) said that the DOI reforms are “restoring balance to our public lands,” and expressed concern over efforts to reverse course:

“The Department of the Interior onshore reforms went a long way in restoring balance to our public lands and protecting important economic drivers that employ thousands of people across the West.  It is disappointing to see members of Congress, presumably at the request of industry, attempting to roll back such common sense policies on the land that provides for the livelihoods of thousands and belongs to all of us and millions of future Americans.”
 Sen. Barrasso would be presenting the nation with a legislative solution in search of a problem. The oil and gas industry in this country is booming <http://checksandbalancesproject.org/2011/06/30/a-few-facts-about-july-4th-gas-prices-and-energy-development/> . Last quarter, the top five American oil and gas companies raked in $32 billion in profits – their highest total since 2008. Drilling is back to pre-recession levels and nearing a 20-year high. Oil and drilling companies don’t need any more handouts in either tax dollars or our public lands.

Access to public lands for drilling is simply not an issue. In fact, oil and gas companies have yet to develop upwards of 7,000 permits where they have a green light to drill. And, 57 percent of the industry’s existing onshore leases, covering over 20 million acres, are idle.

Interior Department representatives have testified that in 2011, onshore drilling permits are expected to increase by over 40 percent. If oil companies want to drill more, they already have the land and permits in-hand to do just that.

Sen. John Barrasso, and any senator who supports his amendments, would set the stage for injury to western lands and the economy by:
 

(1) Rescinding leasing reform policies, which make leasing more efficient and provide certainty to industry, while assuring that oil and gas development is done in a way that protects our land, water, and air.

(2) Removing scientific review of drilling operations by rescinding reforms that limit the ability of oil and gas companies to use “categorical exclusions” – the same exemptions used at the BP Gulf drilling disaster site – in order to avoid water, air, wildlife, and public health protections.

(3) Restricting opportunities for the public and local governments to challenge oil and gas decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act.

(4) Encouraging government interference in energy markets by setting government-mandated oil and gas production goals on the public lands. 

This legislation comes down to simply one more government handout to the oil and gas industry. Sen. Barrasso wants to give away our public lands and weaken protections for our air and water, all on behalf of an industry that already made $32 billion last quarter. It would be unconscionable for legislation meant to address the BP Gulf oil spill disaster to a vehicle for Sen. Barrasso to allow Big Oil to take more short cuts when drilling on our public lands.

Quote from Matthew Garrington, Denver-based deputy director of the Checks & Balances Project:
“The Barrasso legislation is an attempt to give more handouts to the oil and gas industry, this time in the form of our public lands. Sen. Barrasso should be working in Congress on behalf of Americans, not his Big Oil campaign contributors. It makes no sense to let the oil and gas industry take the same sort of shortcuts that led to the BP Gulf oil spill disaster.”