Norman D. Dicks: “I just want to reiterate an important fact that was made in the full committee. Federal offshore lands already open to…”

“I just want to reiterate an important fact that was made in the full committee. Federal offshore lands already open to exploration is 80 percent of potential gas reserves offshore. Of the most current mean estimate of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas: offshore non-moratoria reserves, 328 trillion cubic feet; offshore moratoria reserves, 77 trillion cubic feet. There is a lot of offshore drilling that can be done that is legal, as the gentlewoman said, from the Minerals Management Service's most recent report. So let us go drill there and protect our beaches. That is the best way to move forward and let the authorizers go forward and try to come up with a responsible end to this. But to precipitously move out tonight on this Peterson amendment would be a mistake, and I support strongly the Putnam-Capps amendment.”