For Immediate Release:
November 8, 2005
Contact: David Willett, 202-675-6698
Update on Congressional Action this Week on Several Environmental Fronts
From saving face in the wake of oil company profits to weakening
protections for communities, Congress tackles a number of controversial
issues with far-reaching environmental and financial impacts for all
Americans this week. Below are brief summaries of some of the majors
issues Sierra Club is following and available for comment on.
1. Budget Reconciliation--Arctic Refuge/Off-Shore Oil Drilling (as early as
Thursday)
2. Oil/Gas Hearings--Wednesday
3. National Environmental Policy Act: (Thursday)
4. "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" (Thursday)
5. Contractor Liability/Katrina Recovery (Tuesday)
1. Budget Reconciliation--Arctic Refuge/Off-Shore Oil Drilling (as early as
Thursday)
Last week the Senate narrowly passed their budget reconciliation package
with Arctic Refuge drilling. All eyes now turn to the House, where a vote
is expected as early as Thursday on a version of the budget that includes
draconian cuts to social service programs and controversial provisions to
drill in the long-protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and revoke the
24-year old moratorium on offshore drilling. A recent report by the
Department of Energy estimates that even 20 years down the road, when
Arctic Refuge oil is at or near peak production, gas prices would only be
affected by about a penny per gallon. And in the wake of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, the knee-jerk reaction by some in Congress has been to
simply add more oil and gas rigs to our hurricane-prone waters, furthering
our dependence on vulnerable infrastructure and ignoring real solutions
like energy efficiency. The bill would also cut funding to numerous
environmental, education and social program, while allowing for provisions
that sell off our nation's public lands to mining companies.
2. Oil/Gas Hearings--Wednesday
Both the House and Senate plan Wednesday hearings on energy supply, with
the Senate questioning the CEO's of major oil companies' record profits and
the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee investigating Natural Gas
prices, supply and demand. Top executives of ExxonMobil (just posted
$9.9 billion in third-quarter profits, up 75%), Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP
America Inc., and Shell Oil Company will all testify on Capitol Hill where
just three months ago Congress passed an energy bill laden with billions of
dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to these same companies. And Congress
is still considering giving these companies the Arctic Refuge and our
coasts -- taxpayers would lose some of the country's most special places so
that oil companies can get even richer.
On the issue of capacity, even the American Petroleum Institute has stated
that oil refineries are not being built because the industry, not
environmental laws, don't want them. As a result, between 1975 and 2001,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received only one permit
request for a new refinery. The oil industry's decision to limit supply
has generated enormous profits. Between 2001 and mid-2005, the combined
profits for the biggest five oil refiners was $228 billion.
The solutions are the same whether addressing Arctic and Off-Shore
drilling, or rising energy prices. Instead of focusing on losing issues
like giveaways to the oil industry, and drilling our coasts and the Arctic
Refuge, it is time for Congress to put forward a real energy policy that
will lower energy bills and cut America's dependence on oil so we do not
repeat the mistakes of the past. prosecute price gouging, and invest in
energy efficiency. The technology exists today to raise fuel economy
standards to 40 miles per gallon within ten years. Taking this step would
save 4 million barrels of oil per day-- that is more oil than the US
currently imports from the Persian Gulf and could ever take out of the
Arctic Refuge, combined. It would also save the average driver over $4,000
at the gas pump over the lifetime of the vehicle. Congress should also
reinvest a portion of the industry's windfall profits tax to help consumers
and cut America's oil dependence. A windfall profits tax would generate
nearly $20 billion a year that could fund tax credits for hybrid vehicles,
mass transit, energy efficiency and consumer energy assistance. This would
help put money back in the pockets of Americans who need it, not in the
coffers of multinational oil companies. These real solutions will save
Americans money at the gas pump, protect the environment, and cut the
country's oil dependence.
3. National Environmental Policy Act: (Thursday)
The Congressional NEPA Task Force, which was formed by California
Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) holds its final hearing in Washington, DC
Thursday on whether to weaken the bedrock protection for safe and healthy
communities. Sierra Club will testify at the hearing. The 35-year old
National Environmental Policy Act, signed into law by President Nixon,
safeguards our nation's air water and lands by requiring federal agencies
to provide an assessment of the environmental impact of and alternatives to
any major federal action that could significantly affect the quality of the
environment. However, there are some in Congress who want to curtail
NEPA's environmental review process and public participation in the name of
speeding up potentially damaging projects.
The field hearings themselves invited controversy when several of the
hearing venues were changed at the last minute, moving from centrally
located population centers to more isolated communities, in some cases even
changing from weekend to weekday schedules. In some cases proponents of
NEPA were denied an opportunity to offer testimony. For example, the
third hearing on July 23rd intended to cover the role of NEPA in the
southern states, was moved from Houston, Texas (population 1,953,000) to
the small east Texas town of Nacogdoches (population 30,000). Eight of the
10 witnesses represented mining and timber extractive industries. Local
Sierra Club members asked to testify at the hearing but were turned down
4. "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" (Thursday)
The House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health also holds a hearing
Thursday on Representative Greg Walden's (R-OR) logging bill (H.R. 4200)
that goes even further than President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative in
its disregard for important protections for clean drinking water and
wildlife, and elimination of meaningful environmental analysis and public
involvement required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This
legislation is a gross example of misplaced priorities. We should be
protecting homes and communities at risk from fires, not diverting scarce
resources to damaging logging activities. Scientific research has shown
that logging dead or dying trees damages streams, increases fire risk,
destroys wildlife habitat and wastes taxpayer dollars.
Congress has given the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management all of
the authority it needs to address natural disasters and the Administration
has granted itself several waivers from environmental analysis under NEPA
to complete legitimate forest rehabilitation and recovery after natural
events. In fact, the forest clean-up from Hurricane Katrina -- of one of
the greatest natural disasters in US history -- is being managed entirely
within the confines of current forest management laws.
5. Contractor Liability/Katrina Recovery (Tuesday)
The Senate Subcommittee on Superfund and Waste Management holds a hearing
today (Tuesday) on a bill that allows government-paid contractors in
national disasters unprecedented immunity from environmental citizens suits
and in many cases even liability for harm that they cause through
negligence. Senate bill 1761 would apply to the Katrina disaster and any
future national disasters in which federal aid costs more than $15 billion.
A group of unions, community and environmental organizations sent a letter
to Congress urging that relief, recovery, and rebuilding assistance in the
Gulf Coast must make clean air and water for the people of the region a
priority. Instead, the residents of the Gulf Coast who have already been
victimized by the terrific force of these hurricanes will be victimized
again by this bill, which would leave them without a remedy against
government contractors that cause irreparable harm to their air and water.
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