Political Quotes

“my amendment, which is a bipartisan amendment and which shares the strong support of colleagues from around the Great Lakes Basin, seeks to protect the waters of the Great Lakes by asking for a study of the impact of any oil and gas drilling in our Great Lakes. And it places a moratorium on new drilling until we have factual scientific review of the danger of any potential oil and gas drilling. In case my colleagues are not aware, 30 to 50 new oil and gas drilling permits could be issued as soon as the next few weeks for extraction under Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. This is moving forward only in the waters of the State of Michigan despite the overwhelming opposition of almost all local communities that would be affected by drilling and by the public at large. We don't want to see these oil rigs dotting the shoreline of Lake Michigan or any of our beaches around the Great Lakes. This amendment says that before anything as serious as this picture shows would occur we want to make sure that the Army Corps of Engineers does a complete study and analysis, and that we have thoughtful consideration of the impact this would create. I want to make it clear that this is a local and regional issue. Drilling in the Great Lakes is not a part of President Bush's energy strategy, nor is it a component of any of the major energy bills pending in Congress. We are talking about the Great Lakes Basin. We have one of our Nation's most precious public natural resources.…”