On the recordJune 20, 2012
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, developing our Nation's Outer Continental Shelf is all about achieving a balance. The Federal agencies involved have to balance the needs of the coastal community and the environment while also providing for safe energy production. This is how you preserve the multiple-use aspect that we have for Federal land management, and I endorse that concept. Fortunately for the gentleman, the author of this amendment, the purpose of his amendment is already the law of the land. No leasing occurs in the Outer Continental Shelf without extensive environmental assessment. Now, I'll give you an example. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducts an environmental impact statement, or an EIS, before leasing any area, then another EIS for the specific lease sale area, and then another environmental assessment must be conducted before a company can even begin development. So, with that process that you have to go through, I can only conclude that this amendment is offered not about protecting the environment, but it's really about stopping offshore energy production. Of course, if we do that, obviously what does that do to American energy jobs? Like I said earlier, fortunately, all these protections exist if indeed we're going to have energy production. So I don't think we need this amendment, and I would urge my colleagues to reject it. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
