Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I appreciate the question of my colleague from Florida, as we recognize that coming from different parts of the country, where we have access in close proximity to the oil and gas resource, but we recognize that there are differences between where we are in our geography and perhaps the approach. In the Gulf of Mexico, I think your climate allows for exploration and production probably 365 days out of the year, which is a little bit different than in our arctic environment. We respect that. To the Senator's question, which is a very legitimate and fair question--this is why we had hoped so much that with this report from the Department of the Interior, it would have allowed for a breakdown so we could understand what is happening with these many thousands of leases that are out there and existing. What is the true status? To put it in idle or unuse is not very clear, quite honestly. What does that mean? Are we in the exploratory phase and so we are not in production? And what category is that? Is this an older lease about which perhaps they have determined there simply is not the--for instance, if you are drilling in some deep waters, it is extraordinarily costly. As I mentioned, these are complex, and the technologies are quite considerable.…”