Dems Say Oil and Gas Industry Calling the Shots at Interior Dep’t.
With the repeal the Waters of the United States Rule now queued up and the Interior Department’s review of 21 years’ worth of national monuments designations underway, talk of permitting access to federal lands was dominated by sharp critiques of the oil and gas industries who, in the opinion of one committee member, stand at the ready to scoop up all control of the nation’s public lands and resources if given the chance.
“I don’t oppose oil and gas development on public lands, what I do oppose is letting the gas and oil industry call the shots on how to manage those lands that are owned by all Americans,” said Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif. “It has taken five months and nearly every move this administration has made could come out of the boardrooms of the American Petroleum Institute or the National Mining Association and that may actually be the case given the number of oil and coal lobbyists at the Interior Department, the EPA and the White House.” “Rules to protect public health?
“Which lands would you like to lease?
The only measure of success for the Bureau of Land Management was how many drilling permits it could issue?
“If we look into the future, we need to make sure we’re addressing climate change, pushing renewables and making sure we’re conserving our parks and natural resources,” he said.
“The concern is when you’re deciding if you want to lease oil and gas, you go through a land use planning process.
That process hasn’t worked robustly in recent times because there hasn’t been that much interest,” Squillace said.
Soto asked if this was because there was a lack of demand for the space or if it was truly a regulatory issue that gums up the works.
It is necessary, not just legally required, that we focus on the consequences of fuel, oil and gas development resources on our lands.