US Rep. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) could take pride in watching Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing moratoriums expire Sept. 30. He also is realistic enough to know that more work must be done, even though he is leaving Congress at yearend.
“Seven years ago, when I began the fight to open up our vast offshore energy reserves, I could count on one hand the number of supporters,” he said Sept. 24 after the House approved a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running through Mar. 6, 2009, and abolished more than 20 years of federal OCS leasing bans.
“As the days and years passed, the American people began to understand this issue and realized the United States Congress was the number one obstacle impeding the expansion of domestic energy production. Today, their voices were heard,” Peterson said.
Allowing the bans to expire should only be the beginning, he continued. “Congress needs to create an environment where scientists and entrepreneurs can work together and create next-generation energy sources like coal-to-liquids, coal-to-gas, and the reprocessing of nuclear waste so we can end our dependence on imported oil and transition to a clean energy future,” he said.
Work across the aisle
Federal lawmakers also must find ways to increase domestic refining capacity, reform litigation, and streamline regulatory permitting processes, Peterson said. “In the coming years, it is of the utmost importance that members of Congress continue to work across the aisle and find reasonable and effective solutions to the energy crisis,” he said.
This member of Congress practiced what he preached. Peterson and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Ha.) cosponsored bills for several years to lift the OCS leasing moratoriums. They went farther in 2008 and established a bipartisan energy working group. Its proposed legislation would have funded alternative and renewable energy research and development with part of the revenues from new OCS leasing.
Their bill attracted more than 170 cosponsors by mid-September, including key members of committees that would have had jurisdiction over it. It was ignored by both parties’ House leaders.
Locked-in positions
“They were locked in political positions and didn’t think they could move. The people in our group came in with more-flexible approaches because they wanted to come up with a solution,” a staff member for one of the cosponsors told me.
In remarks on the House floor Sept. 24, Peterson urged House members not to follow the last three US presidents or the past 14 Congresses who did not make energy a major priority.
“This is more of a crisis than many people believe. The future availability of energy will determine whether our people can stay in their homes, can feed their families, can travel to work, and whether companies can afford to stay in this country,” he said.
