Rep. Gibbs Exposes EPA's Attempts to Suppress Domestic Oil and Gas Production

Release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) joined House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) at a hearing continuing both committee’s oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency’s policies that negatively impact domestic energy prices.  Members heard testimony from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes.

 

“Tuesday’s hearing exposed the many ways the EPA puts up road blocks to job creation by creating uncertainty in the market.  If you want to bring down gas prices you need to put certainty out in the market.  But this Administration set a very dangerous precedent when it revoked a legally issued three-year-old domestic energy production permit without the support of the state EPA nor any evidence that there was a permit violation. 

 

“If the EPA continues to create uncertainty across all sectors of the economy, no one will be willing to risk investing capital if their permit could be revoked and their investment lost at the whim of an Administration. 

 

“As the U.S. economy struggles to get back on track, now is not the time to allow the EPA to impose what could prove to be the most costly, burdensome, and expansive set of job-destroying regulations ever crafted.  Instead, we must block the EPA’s runaway regulations to save countless jobs and protect our economy from the tens of billions of dollars their backdoor energy policies would cost.”

 

“I thank Chairman Issa for allowing me to take part in the hearing and look forward to continuing our efforts to rein in the regulators,” Gibbs said.

 

NOTE: The hearing also highlighted a new report documenting Obama Administration policies that negatively impact domestic energy prices.  The committee's report found that while the Obama Administration touts nascent "green" energy technologies, U.S. domestic energy resources are currently the largest on earth—greater than Saudi Arabia, China and Canada combined. It also noted that recent EPA and Department of Interior regulatory actions, some in collaboration with environmental groups or outside normal scope, are having a detrimental impact on independent energy producers.

 

A complete copy of the report can be viewed online here.  The 42 page report, "Rising Energy Costs: The Intentional Result of Government Action" identifies numerous Administration efforts to suppress domestic oil and gas production that lead to higher costs while helping the Administration promote expensive alternative sources of energy.