Oklahoma congressional delegation, others, criticize new rules regarding drilling on federal lands

Oklahoma Watchdog ^ | January 7, 2010 | Andrew W. Griffin

[SoonerStorm09]

OKLAHOMA CITY — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in a media conference call Wednesday that the oil and gas industry will face stiffer hurdles, starting this year, when it comes to drilling on public lands in the U.S.

And this could have a detrimental effect on Oklahoma’s energy sector, triggering the wrath of Rep. Dan Boren and critical comments from others in the Oklahoma congressional delegation and representatives of the oil and gas industry.

According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, Salazar told the media that new Department of the Interior policies will “limit the federal government’s practice of fast-tracking some drilling proposals by exempting them from detailed environmental studies.”

The Chronicle report also notes that the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees more than 260 million acres of federal land “to conduct on-site assessments and seek expanded public input on proposed oil and gas leases.”

This all comes, according to Salazar, after the Bush years where he said policies throughout much of the 2000’s made “our public lands essentially the candy store of the oil and gas industry, who could walk in and take whatever they wanted.”

A more “thoughtful” approach to energy development on federal lands is what the DOI is hoping to achieve. However, here in Oklahoma, these new rules are seen as “job-killing,” according to US Rep. Dan Boren (D-Muskogee).