Posted on 07/29/2010 1:30:55 PM PDT by Qbert
The latest version of the CLEAR Act is slated for a floor vote in the House this week as Democrats look for ways to use the Gulf oil spill as a means to pass elements of their unpopular energy agenda.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stripped out authorization for an independent investigation into the Gulf disaster.
The Natural Resources Committee unanimously passed the amendment in committee markup July 14 offered by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that would establish a bipartisan, independent, National Commission on Outer Continental Shelf Oil Spill Prevention.
Unlike the commission set up by President Obama -- packed only with environmental activists and no petroleum engineers -- the commission unanimously approved by the Natural Resources committee would be comprised of technical experts to study the actual events leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Not a single member of the committee voiced opposition at the bill’s markup. The Senate has also approved an independent commission.
“To investigate what went wrong and keep it from happening again, the commission must include members who have expertise in petroleum engineering. The President’s Commission has none,” Cassidy, the amendment’s author, told HUMAN EVENTS after the announcement. “It defies common sense that this amendment passed unanimously in committee, only to be deleted in the Speaker’s office.”
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), top Republican on the Natural Resources Committee said the Obama’s administration’s commission was set up to protect the President.
“By deleting the bipartisan, independent oil spill commission that’s received bipartisan support in both House and Senate committees, Democrats have shown they are more interested in protecting the President than getting independent answers to what caused this tragic Gulf spill. Some of the biggest failures that contributed to the Gulf disaster are the direct responsibility of the federal government and by deleting this bipartisan, independent commission, Democrats ensure that only the President’s hand-picked commission will be digging into any failures of his own Interior Department appointees. There is widespread agreement that no member of the President’s commission possesses technical expertise in oil drilling, and several are on the record in opposition to offshore drilling and support a moratorium that will cost thousands of jobs,” Hastings said.
The bill also sets up myriad regulations and new standards and laws for drilling that have nothing to do with offshore drilling.
“Even more outrageous is this bill’s attempt to use the oil spill tragedy as leverage to enact totally unrelated policies and increase federal spending on unrelated programs by billions of dollars. What does a solar panel in Nevada, a wind turbine in Montana, uranium for nuclear power, or a ban on fish farming have to do with the Gulf spill? Nothing -- but the spill is a good excuse to try and pass otherwise stalled or unpopular new laws,” Hastings said.
Another member of the committee, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), pointed out the hand-picked Obama commission is just getting underway with no findings or recommendations made.
“This ‘fix it’ bill is being rammed through without an accurate and full understanding of what actually went wrong. The Presidential Commission is just barely beginning its work, no investigations are yet concluded, and the failed [blowout preventer] still on the ocean floor, yet we are voting on a bill without knowing what went wrong,” Fleming said.
“Furthermore, at a time when Washington should be focused on creating jobs, this bill will do just the opposite by hampering future energy development and stifling job creation along the Gulf Coast,” Fleming added. “This knee-jerk legislation -- coupled with the Administration’s damaging Moratorium on offshore drilling -- will worsen, not help, the situation.”
Yet the House is poised to vote this week on the CLEAR Act, likely Friday.
“This bill has less to do with preventing another spill than it does preventing domestic energy production,” Cassidy said.
UPDATE: House Republicans released bullets on the CLEAR Act this morning breaking down some of the measures included in the bill, including:
- Imposes job-killing changes and higher taxes for onshore natural gas and oil production. It fundamentally changes leasing onshore by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which affects not just leasing for natural gas and oil, but also for renewable energy including wind and solar. Forest Service and BLM leasing are shoved into the three new agencies that are replacing the former Minerals Management Service (MMS).
- Creates over $30 billion in new mandatory spending for two programs that have nothing to do with the oil spill (the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund). In the version of the bill headed to the House floor, Democrats added brand new language that expressly allows this $30 billion to be earmarked by the Appropriations Committee.
- Raises taxes by over $22 billion in ten years – with the taxes eventually climbing to nearly $3 billion per year. This is a direct tax on natural gas and oil that will raise energy prices for American families and businesses, hurt domestic jobs, and increase our dependence on foreign oil. This tax only applies to U.S. oil and gas production on federal leases – giving an advantage to foreign oil and hurting American energy jobs.
- Requires the federal takeover of state authority to permit in state waters, which reverses sixty years of precedent. The mismanagement, corruption and oversight failures of the federal government are being used as justification to expand federal control by seizing management from the states.
- Allows 10% of all offshore revenues – an amount possibly as high as $500 million per year – to be spent on a new fund controlled by the Interior Secretary to issue ocean research grants (ORCA fund). There is no requirement that the fund is used for the Gulf region or anything related to oil spills or offshore drilling. These funds can be earmarked.
Smells like all the rest of their agenda to destroy our country.
The last few days have been all about democrats blocking investigations.
#1: Yes, and mayhap they don’t want Republicans agreeing with ANYTHING they put up for a vote so they can continue to lie that the republicans are too partisan.
They must have something they’re hiding...
Maybe, they blew the well! Well, it could happen. After all, she is the most powerful woman in the world /s
The last few days have been all about democrats blocking investigations.
Gosh, could it be they are cheats, thieves and traitors who belong in jail instead of government? Come on, pull the tablecloth off the table and let’s see what’s under there. I just know Pelosi would look good in bright orange.
PING!!
What are they hiding?
Real shocker—the government has something to hide. Perhaps there will be a subsequent cover up we can use to hang the bastards.
If W was still in office, she’d be screaming for an investigation.
More like they can’t pin this one solely on the GOP so it will be swept under the rug.
W pulled the same thing with the 9/11 which was Clinton and his fault for being asleep at the switch.
Are you named after the video game or the DJ?
Environmental president.
Oops, TIME Magazine’s “Where’s the Oil?” must not have been appropriately vetted/colluded/cabaled on Journolist/Cabalist/Townhouse. Major Domosheeet!
What they are doing just isn't going to get any clearer, America. It's not like it's a big secret.
The 0bama-Democrat-RINO (Progressive) "No Domestic Energy Policy!"
All of that puts the U.S. in a position that war for oil or
complete economic collapse will be our only choices.
You can't frustrate every source of domestic energy
without consequences. Our enemies will blackmail us
to the extent that we are vulnerable to blackmail.
0bama, the Democrats and RINOs are leading us into a real war for oil.
A war we won't have the energy to fight.
A war we don't need to fight because we have our own resources.
It Begins… First Oil Rig Relocates From Gulf to Foreign Waters
"As a result of the uncertainties surrounding the offshore drilling moratorium, we are actively seeking international opportunities to keep our rigs fully employed," Dickerson said. "We greatly regret the loss of U.S. jobs that will result from this rig relocation."
Idled Gulf Rigs Head For Africa
It is not just Gulf operations that are being effected either.
Wait and see for Shell {Shell puts Arctic drilling plans on hold, waiting on feds}
Let's not leave the refineries out.
EPA gives final "no" to Texas refinery permits
Then there are the land-based oil leases.
Judge Grills Feds on Pulling Drilling Leases"A federal judge on Wednesday questioned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's justification for canceling 77 drilling leases sold by the Bush administration around national parks in Utah."
"wheeew, the rug sho' iz gettin' lumpy, . . and it's startin' to smell, too!"
"Won't cha' all grab an end and hep' me take it out so'd we can beat it?"
Why is it something new everyday?
Nachum’s site of the ‘1st 100 days’ is turning into volumes of information. Thanks for all your efforts Nachum.
Ah, but that was the same story under Klinton! Remember Rush's words 'How can we fool em today'? That is the reason why NACHUMLIST was born. It was created so that conservatives can reference this history, fraud by fraud, lie by lie and then VOTE.
Thank you too- for noticing. :)
This whole thing stinks to high heaven. The timing of it, three weeks after Obama made his announcement, the fact that enviros are known for doing crazy destructive things to try and get their way, and now not to allow an investigation and to push for their none drilling agenda just makes them look more quilty. I say hold Obama in question and one of the enviro groups. Just my opinion.
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