Freshman members of Congress traditionally sit back and learn during their first year in office. A few Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee spoke up instead on Sept. 16 at the first day of hearings on chairman Nick J. Rahall's (D-W.Va.) far-reaching federal minerals management reform bill.
Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) confronted US Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar, who was there to testify, about his "blocking energy development across the board." John Fleming (La.) asked Salazar whether DOI had determined what constitutes diligent development of a federal lease.
Then there was Bill Cassidy (La.), who observed that Rahall's bill "creates contradictions in calling for more expeditious production while it increases bureaucratic delays."
Cassidy brings a unique perspective to the committee, OGJ learned a few days later. He's not the only physician among the GOP members: Paul C. Broun (Ga.) is a general practitioner who introduced a bill on Oct. 1 aimed at curbing excessive legal challenges to energy resource development. But he doesn't come from a major producing state. Cassidy does.
Positive impacts
"When you grow up in Louisiana, you grow up knowing the positive impacts oil and gas and the petrochemical industries can have," he said. "As a physician, I would ask patients where they got their healthcare benefits. Most were from businesses associated with, if not part of, these industries."
Cassidy's point? Oil and gas E&P creates good jobs. "There are few domestic industries which have continued to provide comparable benefits for blue-collar workers in the recent economic downturn," he said.
Radio talk shows in his home district regularly get calls from listeners asking why E&P hasn't expanded so more US workers could get decent healthcare coverage, he said.
When he visited a rig in Pointe Coupee Parish recently, Cassidy said he found that most employees there had high school educations, were married, and drove fairly new vehicles. "From pipe-fitters and welders to barge operators, they appreciate their benefits," he said.
'Less dependent'
Cassidy finds the idea unrealistic that the US won't depend on foreign oil supplies in the near term. "We can be less dependent by increasing our own production," he said, adding that recent strikes off Louisiana show that reports of the death of domestic discoveries are premature.
States with tight shale gas formations, like the Marcellus, could reap major economic benefits from their development, he added.
"We need to think imaginatively about where our domestic supplies are. Dilly-dallying on offshore leasing and finding ways not to proceed onshore is not the way to begin," he said.
Cassidy said, "I'm here to advocate for pipe-fitters, truck drivers, and others in the oil and gas industry," he said. "But others would benefit from more domestic development."
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