US Chamber of Commerce Pres. Thomas J. Donohue issued a clarion call Dec. 3 that nearly every oil and gas executive, manager, and supervisor can understand: It's time to do something about excessive government regulation.
"We must lift the veil of uncertainty hanging over every business and investor if we want to revive our economy and create the jobs and opportunities Americans badly need," he told a joint committee meeting of the Chamber's Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Affairs Divisions.
"Nothing contributes more to this stifling uncertainty than a regulatory system that has lost its balance and common sense," Donohue continued. "Projects are sidelined, jobs lost, growth squandered, and freedoms seriously undermined by an out-of-control regulatory bureaucracy."
No reasonable person wants an end to all government regulation, he emphasized. "They help ensure workplace safety, guarantee worker rights, and protect public health," Donohue explained. "They provide needed standards and procedures on how to operate equipment, handle food properly, ensure safe working conditions, and keep the environment clean.
"But many rules are simply outdated, ineffective, overly complicated, and counterproductive," he maintained. "They are too numerous, too pervasive, and too costly."
He cited the US Environmental Protection Agency's finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger the public's well-being, which he said could lead to the largest regulatory rulemaking in history. "The regulations could ultimately extend beyond mobile sources to include as many as 6 million American businesses, many of which are not currently regulated," Donohue said.
EPA also is examining hydraulic fracturing in a massive study that many believe could provide a rationale for federal regulation of the drilling process before the end of the Obama administration, he added.
"That could short-circuit America's renaissance in energy that is creating millions of jobs, generating a gusher of revenue to governments (mostly state and local), and reducing our dependence on foreign oil," Donohue said.
Redoubling efforts
He said the US Chamber will redouble efforts in 2013 to repeal regulations which are no longer useful, or are the most unreasonable.
"We always try to work within the rulemaking process first," Donohue said. "But when agencies overstep their bounds or refuse to follow lawfully prescribed practices, we go to court and we sue."
Legislatively, he said the Chamber supports two bills: The Regulatory Accountability Act would modernize the Truman-era Administrative Procedures Act. The Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act would streamline federal permitting processes so more projects could proceed.
"The Chamber is using every resource at its disposal to stem the unprecedented flow of regulations, and to reform the process so it is accountable, transparent, open to participation, and achieves solid results," Donohue said.
