{"id":15200,"date":"2010-03-31T17:12:58","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T23:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=15200"},"modified":"2010-03-31T23:50:21","modified_gmt":"2010-04-01T05:50:21","slug":"u-s-senators-teague-praise-offshore-drilling-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/03\/u-s-senators-teague-praise-offshore-drilling-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. senators, Teague praise offshore drilling proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The U.S. Capitol building (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Three members of the New Mexico delegation praised the Obama Administration\u2019s move to expand offshore drilling<\/a> today. Here are the statements they issued.<\/p>\n

From U.S. Rep. <\/strong>Harry Teague<\/strong><\/a>, D-N.M.:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president\u2019s announcement is good news for American workers, good news for the American economy, and good news for our national security. The Obama Administration\u2019s decision to responsibly develop more of our domestic energy resources is a positive step forward and an acknowledgement that expanding domestic production is critical to ending our dependence on foreign oil from places like Iran and Venezuela. Since being elected to Congress I\u2019ve spent a good deal of time talking to the administration about the importance of producing more energy in America, and this decision shows President Obama and his administration are willing to listen to voices from our industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving forward, I hope to hear more from the administration about how they will work to support small and independent producers in New Mexico and across the country. After all, it\u2019s the smaller independents that operate the majority of wells nationwide and provide good paying American jobs while helping to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Teague also pointed to a letter<\/a> he signed last year that was sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in support of drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.<\/p>\n

From U.S. Sen. <\/strong>Jeff Bingaman<\/strong><\/a>, D-N.M. and chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI commend Secretary\u00a0Salazar\u00a0for proposing a plan that makes available for leasing much of the potential\u00a0offshore oil and gas\u00a0resources that the federal government owns. I also commend him for indicating that additional studies will be undertaken before making a\u00a0final decision\u00a0on leasing in areas that might be environmentally sensitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Salazar\u2019s proposed plan is generally consistent with the legislative proposals regarding our offshore\u00a0national oil and gas\u00a0resources that the Senate Energy and\u00a0Natural Resources Committee\u00a0reported last summer. I hope that the Senate will address these legislative proposals in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From U.S. Sen. <\/strong>Tom Udall<\/strong><\/a>, D-N.M.:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI commend President Obama and Secretary Salazar for moving past politics and taking another step towards a comprehensive energy policy that will help reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and put us on a path towards a cleaner, more secure energy future. Today\u2019s announcement of clear guidelines for offshore oil and gas production builds upon the Obama Administration\u2019s unparalleled support for renewable energy and increased fuel efficiency standards. For its part, Congress must monitor the development of offshore oil and gas closely to ensure that we remain responsible stewards of our environment for future generations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No news releases have been issued by the other members of the New Mexico delegation.<\/p>\n

Update, 5:35 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M. and Teague\u2019s opponent, released this statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy policy announcement today by\u00a0President Obama\u00a0is another example of the president being ambiguous, evasive and misleading.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe order will lock up more production areas than it releases. Under the administration\u2019s plan a majority of areas that are open are being once again closed, this includes the Pacific Coast, the Northeastern Atlantic and\u00a0Bristol Bay,\u00a0Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0Outer Continental Shelf\u00a0(OCS) plan announced by the president puts 13.14 billion barrels of oil and 41.9 trillion\u00a0cubic feet\u00a0of\u00a0natural gas\u00a0under lock and key. And the highly touted drilling off the Virginia coast is actually postponed until 2012, thereby discarding a lease sale that was scheduled to take place in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the administration claims drilling is permitted in the\u00a0Eastern Gulf of Mexico, congressional action will be required before drilling may occur. Nancy Pelosi\u00a0has repeatedly blocked congressional action, including when Republicans were in the majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current administration is making it impossible to drill for American resources, rather than opening up the OCS. Under the president\u2019s announcement, our country will to continue to buy oil from nations that wish to do us harm, it prolongs the 10 percent\u00a0unemployment rates\u00a0and\u00a0gasoline prices\u00a0will continue to escalate because of the actions or inaction of President Obama,\u00a0Speaker Pelosi\u00a0and Congressman Teague.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Congressman Teague remains silent on this issue, he is complicit in the president\u2019s ambiguous promises to the\u00a0American people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI favor creating American jobs and using American energy from the\u00a0Outer Continental Shelf. We can create jobs and protect our environment simultaneously; we have the obligation to do both.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Three members of the New Mexico delegation praised the Obama Administration\u2019s move to expand offshore drilling today. Here are their statements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[119,116],"class_list":["post-15200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-energy-policy","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}