Monday, June 20, 2011
Greely Tribune, Colorado
by Nate A. Miller, Greeley Tribune, Colo.
U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner is the driving force behind legislation slated for a vote in the House this week that would make it easier for oil companies to drill off the coast of Alaska.
"Energy security and job creation is very important to me," the Republican said. "This bill accomplishes both goals."
The bill, H.R. 2021, would streamline the process for air permits on deep-water drilling operations off the coast of the U.S., with the exception of the Gulf of Mexico, which is controlled by the Department of the Interior. It also would require the Environmental Protection Agency to make a ruling on permit requests within six months.
Fort Collins resident Gary Wockner, who is the Colorado program director of Clean Water Action, said the bill is misguided.
"This bill will increase polluters' profits at the expense of public health and the environment," he said.
While it may seem strange for a Colorado congressman to take up the cause of offshore oil drilling in Alaska, Gardner, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said it's a good fit.
"We need an all-of-the-above energy policy in this country that lessens our dependence on Middle Eastern oil," he said. "Whether it's natural gas produced in Weld County or oil produced in our deep-water reserves. We need to be doing everything we can to help reduce the price of gasoline and to help ween ourselves off of Middle East oil."
Gardner said permits to drill off the coast of Alaska have become stuck between the EPA and the Environmental Appeals Board, which the EPA created to address administrative appeals involving the major environmental statutes the EPA administers.
"Congress said these permits had to be approved or denied within a limited time frame. The EPA created a bureaucracy without Congress that has delayed some of these permits by as much as six years," he said. "It's the EPA end-run around Congress that's hurting our energy independence."
Gardner's legislation would remove the duplication created by the EPA and appeals board permitting process.
In testimony last month before the subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation Regina McCarthy said the appeals board ensures all parties are heard and often actually makes the process more efficient.
"Rather than adding a step, the board usually serves as a cheaper, faster, more expert substitute for judicial review," she said. She used the example of a group of subsistence fisherman concerned that an EPA permit didn't address their concerns about air pollution. "They would not be required to hire a lawyer; they could attend oral arguments via video conference; and they would know that their concerns were being heard by experts."
She also said offshore drilling operations can have very real impact on air quality, and it's important to ensure effective, efficient oversight of the operations.
Gardner said the permitting process gives ample time for public comment without the added bureaucracy of the appeals board. He said the permits can be held up even when there aren't health concerns. He gave the example of a Royal Dutch Shell permit for Alaska drilling which he said the EPA held up for six years, even though EPA head Lisa P. Jackson said health concerns weren't an issue.
Gardner estimates the measure, if it becomes law, would create 50,000 jobs across the country -- including some in Colorado -- and help ease the pressure at the pump for drivers by allowing more than 1 million barrels of oil a day to be pumped from Alaska.
Wockner said Gardner should focus on energy solutions Colorado has to offer.
"Rep. Gardner should be worrying about clean energy jobs in northern Colorado, not polluters' profits in Alaska," he said.
Copyright (c) 2011, Greeley Tribune, Colo.
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