Political Quotes

“yesterday I introduced two bills on a subject of great importance--two different subjects--related to our national energy policy. The two bills were the Oil and Gas Facilitation Act of 2011. The second was the Outer Continental Shelf Reform Act of 2011. Both of these bills are based on bipartisan, largely consensus work, that was done in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during the last Congress. I should note that these important issues are being addressed in separate bills very consciously and for a reason. In the past we have crafted comprehensive energy bills that attempted to address all of the energy policy issues of the day in a single piece of legislation. There are obvious advantages to that. But there are well- documented disadvantages as well. I wish to avoid those disadvantages this year in furtherance of completing our important work. There is no disagreement in the Senate about the need to have robust and responsible domestic production of oil and gas. At the same time, there is probably considerable disagreement about how best to address that issue. We need to begin work on that. However, ensuring the safety and viability of our operations on the Outer Continental Shelf is a separate matter which deserves attention on its own. The question of how we undertake oil and gas exploration and production on the Outer Continental Shelf appropriately, in my view, stands apart from the question of where we undertake those activities.…”