IPAMS heads to Washington, D.C. to testify against harmful legislation
posted on: Sep 16, 2009
IPAMS heads to Washington, D.C. to testify against harmful legislation
With the summer recess over and Congress back in session, most of you will not be surprised to find that our industry is once again in the crosshairs of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.V.) is holding hearings this week on H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land Energy and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act, which contains many re-run provisions along with a few new twists that will make it even more difficult and costly to develop energy on public lands in the West. Since our region supplies 27% of America’s natural gas, 54% of which comes from public lands, IPAMS is leading the charge to push back against this harmful legislation.
Over the last several months, IPAMS has been preparing for the release of the CLEAR Act, pointing out the dramatic adverse impacts it would have on independent energy producers in the Intermountain West. By our estimations, if this bill were to become law, some 15% of America’s natural gas supply could be put at risk by adding time-consuming delays in creating a new government bureaucracy and redundant layers of regulation, instituting policies that will hamper the action of efficient market mechanisms, and significantly increasing costs to produce natural gas and oil on federal lands.
Because IPAMS is the authority on energy development and public lands in the West, we have been asked to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing this week on Capitol Hill. A huge thanks to Alex Campbell, IPAMS Board member and Vice President of Land with Enduring Resources, who will testify to the harmful effects the CLEAR Act would have on the independent energy companies who drill 90% of U.S. wells and produce 82% of our nation’s natural gas. Enduring Resources, like many IPAMS members, is a small independent natural gas exploration and production company with 19 employees operating on Western public lands.
Secretary Salazar and other Interior Department and Government Accountability Office officials will testify today at 10:00 am EDT. Alex is scheduled to testify on day two (September 17th at 10:00 am EDT.) You can watch both hearings online at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/.
Please take a minute to contact your Congressman and tell them to oppose the CLEAR Act. (Click here to contact your Congressional representative.)
