Landry & Hastings Introduce Key Energy Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – Working to put the Gulf Coast residents back to work, Congressman Jeff Landry (Republican, LA-03) and Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (Republican, WA-04) introduced legislation today that will end the de facto moratorium, increase lease sales, and ensure safety requirements are met by all drilling operations.
“My district is the hub of American oil and gas production; and my constituents are the lifeblood that do the hard work to provide responsible, affordable energy to the entire nation,” said Landry. “We look forward to the day when the Department of Interior no longer puts out press releases for the permits they approve. One way to efficiently do that is to pass the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act.”
The Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act would require lease holders to receive an approved permit before drilling an offshore well, direct the Secretary of Interior to conduct a safety review on permits, require action on a permit to drill within 30 days of receiving an application, provide 30 days – with no extension – for Gulf permits approved before the Administration’s moratorium was imposed to restart, and establish an expedited judicial review process for resolving lawsuits relating to Gulf permits.
Landry – the House’s leading opponent to the President’s oil-free, green energy policy – questioned: “Drilling rigs are leaving the Gulf of Mexico and setting up shop off the coasts of volatile countries like Libya and Egypt. What does it tell you that when given a choice between civil war and the President’s energy policy, oil companies are choosing civil war?”
In addition to the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, Landry and Hastings also introduced the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act – requiring the Secretary of the Interior to conduct oil and natural gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Virginia that have been delayed or cancelled by the Obama Administration – and the Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act – requiring the Administration to move forward on American energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas reserves.
Citing these pieces of legislation as jobs bills – Landry concluded, “By passing these bills and increasing domestic production offshore we will create nearly 1.2 million jobs annually – not just in the oil and gas industry, but also in the numerous support industries. From companies that bring the workers to and from the offshore oil rigs, to steel manufacturers that provide construction materials, to crews building the rigs and platforms – the number of industries that could start hiring workers if the Administration would start issuing deepwater drilling permits are abundant.”
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