Carol Shea-Porter: “First, I would like to thank Chairman Rahall and his staff for this very good piece of legislation before us today. It…”

“First, I would like to thank Chairman Rahall and his staff for this very good piece of legislation before us today. It is a product of months of hard work. I believe it is a transformative bill that will go a long way to ensuring responsible energy development and better environmental protection. The tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico has reminded us of what can happen if we are not vigilant and constantly improving our safety and environmental protection. It has also reminded us that when we put our lands and oceans at risk for energy development in one area, we should be putting land aside and protecting it in another area. The underlying bill makes good on a promise to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That program has protected more than 5 million acres of land across this country. Fully funding LWCF is long overdue, and I thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Chair, among other things, the bill before us makes needed improvements to the way that our offshore energy leasing is carried out. During my time on the Natural Resources Committee, I have been particularly troubled by the reports of unethical behavior at the government agency that was previously overseeing energy leasing. That outrageous conduct must never be allowed to happen again in any agency. This bill puts in place strong ethics requirements and training.”