Gardner’s “Jobs and Energy Permitting Act” advances to House floor

WASHINGTON D.C. – By a vote of 34 to 14, the Energy and Commerce Committee gave bipartisan approval to Rep. Gardner’s (R-CO) bill, H.R. 2021, to streamline energy permitting in the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

“This bill has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs annually, $100 billion in payroll over the next 50 years, and 1 million of barrels of oil per day,” Gardner said. “That is the equivalent of 10 percent of the foreign oil we use, which would reduce our dependence significantly.”

Gardner also emphasized that the expectation of future supplies of oil will drop prices today.

Lucian Pugliaresi, president of the Energy Policy Research Foundation and a former staff member of the National Security Council under President Reagan, wrote in today’s Wall Street Journal: “If we open up more North American resources for development, we may very well shift long-term expectations on domestic supply and receive the benefits of lower prices even before the supplies come to market.”

Another Reagan appointee advocated for cutting the red tape that blocks drilling in Alaska in the pages of USA Today. James A. Baker III, the U.S. Treasury Secretary under Reagan the Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush, wrote: “With our demand for oil and natural gas expected to increase during the coming decades, we cannot afford to leave that energy untapped. Responsibly developing Alaska's immense resources has the potential to mark a new chapter in America's energy future.”

In Gardner’s home district, a gallon of gas can cost anywhere from $3.60 in cities like Fort Collins and Greeley to over $4.00 on the Eastern Plains. Nationally, those prices have soared even higher. Drilling in Alaska’s OCS today, Gardner said, will relieve prices at the pump.

Unfortunately, drilling permits in the OCS are being delayed by months and even years because of confusion between the EPA and the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Gardner’s bill will remove the duplication created by the EPA and EAB permitting process, making it more in-line with the process used by the Department of the Interior. Rather than allowing the back and forth between the EPA and the EAB, the EPA would be required to take a final action on all permits within six months of the request.

Gardner’s bill will now head to the House floor for consideration.