According to the report, BP demonstrated “an insufficient consideration of risk and a lack of operating discipline.”

The 15-member panel of scientists and technical experts are still actively investigating the incident and will make known its findings and recommendations in a final report due in June.

Read the full report here.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)

With little oversight from the Democratic leadership that controls both the House and the Senate, Obama’s EPA has become an agency gone wild, creating regulations and policies that are burdensome, overreaching, and that negatively affect jobs and rural economies. The agency doesn’t seem to realize that rural America’s economy is dependant on agriculture.  A thriving agriculture sector breeds a healthy rural economy.  EPA’s in-your-face-approach to more government regulation has increased the cost of doing business for America’s farmers and ranchers.  If EPA is allowed to continue down this path, the only choice for many farmers and ranchers will be to stop farming altogether.

The threat of these regulations is so great that as co-chair of the Rural America Solutions Group, I will be hosting a forum today along with fellow co-chairmen Sam Graves and Doc Hastings to highlight just how out of touch the EPA is.

We have invited folks from across the country to Washington to discuss the impact these current and proposed regulations have on farmers, ranchers and small businesses.

The message we hope to send to the EPA is this:

All of us share the desire to protect our natural resources, but burdensome regulations that cost the livelihoods of those who feed us is not a policy path we can support.

Cross-posted at The Hill's Congress Blog.

The Co-Chairs will lead a panel discussion on a range of EPA proposals and related legislation, including carbon dioxide restrictions, the Clean Water Act, farm dust regulations, hydraulic fracturing and more.  Experts from across the country have been invited to Washington, D.C. to discuss how these EPA regulations are impacting the livelihoods of farmers, ranchers and small businesses throughout rural America.

Watch it here live!

Cross-posted from House Republican Conference.

Most Americans don’t realize that many of our public lands along both the northern and southern U.S. borders are being destroyed due to environmental regulations that prohibit Border Patrol from securing these areas.  These federal lands have become a highway for criminal activity, including drugs smugglers, human traffickers and potential terrorists.  This has led to escalated violence and caused severe destruction of the environment.  (See pictures below.)

Trash on BLM land in the Roskruge-Recortado Mountains, 2008.	Destroyed cactus blocking a roadway in a U.S. National Park in Arizona.

We need a better approach.  Our land managers must see the bigger picture and we must ensure that government agencies do not interfere with Border Patrol’s ability to protect our federal lands.  If the ultimate goal is to protect the environment, it makes no sense to impose policies that result in increased environmental damages.

For more information on issues facing our public lands, visit http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/border.

• EPA made right move on lead issue (AZ Republic Editorial 8/31/10)
• Gun owners dodge the bullet ban (Washington Times Editorial 8/30/10)
• EPA rejects traditional ammo ban petition claiming lack of jurisdiction (Phoenix Examiner 8/28/10)
• EPA caves: Rejects petition to ban lead in ammo (American Thinker 8/28/10)
• EPA Denies Petition to Ban Traditional Ammunition (National Shooting Sports Foundation 8/28/10)
• EPA Denies Petition to Ban Lead Bullets (Washington Independent 8/27/10)
• GOP Congressman: Potential Lead Bullet Ban An "Assault on Rural America" by Obama Administration (Weekly Standard 8/27/10)
• Environmental Protection Agency Reviewing Petition to Ban Lead Bullets (Weekly Standard 8/27/10)

Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee are committed to expanding opportunities for all Americans to enjoy our beautiful public lands and support the smart, efficient use of our natural resources in order to both protect the environment and create new jobs.

We celebrate the 94th birthday of the National Park Service and encourage Americans to experience our heritage by visiting a National Park.

• Gulf Drilling Ban Would Cost 23,000 Jobs, Regulator Estimates in Memo (Bloomberg 8/23/10)
• Gov't: 23K workers affected by Gulf oil drill ban (AP 8/22/10)
• Admin. Estimated 23,000 Jobs Lost to Moratorium (RedState 8/23/10)
• U.S. Saw Drill Ban Killing Many Jobs (WSJ 8/21/10)
• Report: Interior pins 23,000 job losses on deepwater drilling ban (The Hill 8/21/10)

Gulf Coast Can't Afford CLEAR Disaster
By Rep. Bill Cassidy
Friday, July 30, 2010

Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

Two man-made disasters have hit the Gulf Coast: the BP oil spill and the President’s moratorium on energy production. A third disaster is scheduled for a vote in the House today.

Two hundred twenty-six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig collapsed, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act was introduced in the House. A repackaged version is now being sold as a response to the BP oil spill.

This bill has much less to do with preventing another spill than it does preventing domestic energy production and destroying jobs.

It is legislate first, ask questions later. For example, the CLEAR Act gives the Presidential oil spill commission subpoena power to investigate the Deepwater Horizon spill, while simultaneously issuing new regulations in response to the event the commission is to investigate. In order to prevent another spill, we first need to know what went wrong. Doing otherwise is a recipe for arbitrary and ineffective regulations.

While the Deepwater Horizon rig’s blowout preventer lies on the ocean floor, the CLEAR Act prescribes new rules governing blowout preventers. Of course we need to improve oversight of critical safety equipment, but shouldn’t we first look at the one that broke?

One of the CLEAR Act’s most dangerous provisions sounds the most innocuous: Buy American. It represents the cynical abuse of patriotism in order to kill an entire industry. Under current rules, rigs in American waters are built to U.S. standards, staffed by American crews, and inspected by U.S. agencies. The CLEAR Act will require them to be constructed in America as well. This new requirement is nearly impossible to meet. Mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) are extremely sophisticated devices. A MODU hasn’t been built in the United States in over a decade. The United States currently lacks the capacity to construct them. This provision will only serve to send American jobs overseas and decimate domestic energy production.

Assuming any producers can survive the Buy American provision, perhaps as few as four major multinationals would be able to bid for offshore leases. By increasing the oil spill liability cap from $75 million to “unlimited,” the CLEAR Act will make it impossible for independent producers to operate in the Gulf. Independent producers employ over half of offshore energy workers, hold roughly 90 percent of offshore leases, produce nearly one-third of the oil and two-thirds of the natural gas coming from the Gulf, and have a sterling safety record. Eliminating independent producers’ ability to operate in the Gulf is expected to eliminate over 300,000 well-paying jobs.

Existing law states that if a company causes an oil spill and is found to be grossly negligent or in violation of federal regulations, the $75 million cap does not apply and the company is liable for ALL damages. For example, BP has spent nearly $4 billion on response efforts and allocated $20 billion to compensate spill victims. If a company goes bankrupt, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is funded by oil companies, not taxpayers, compensates spill victims. In light of the Deepwater Horizon accident, it would be appropriate to strengthen the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. But it is irresponsible to impose punitive liability requirements on small businesses that have not demonstrated a safety risk.

The CLEAR Act also contains several harmful provisions completely unrelated to the BP oil spill. It imposes $22 billion in higher taxes on American energy, which will reduce energy sector employment, increase energy prices, and give foreign companies a competitive advantage over domestic producers. Revenue from this tax increase is not dedicated to anything related to cleaning or restoring the Gulf or protecting against another spill.

It usurps states’ rights by imposing federal regulation of oil and gas on state waters. States have a history of effectively balancing safety, environmental, and economic concerns, while poor federal oversight contributed to the BP oil spill. This federal power grab is equivalent to replacing what works with what’s broken.

The CLEAR Act cynically exploits those most affected by the BP oil spill to further an agenda that is hostile to American workers and energy security. The people of the Gulf deserve better.

Cross-posted at The Hill.

“The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a terrible tragedy, and reforms are needed to make American deepwater energy production the safest in the world.  But Washington Democrats are exploiting the Gulf tragedy to pass unrelated measures that will destroy American jobs, increase energy costs, and make America more dependent on foreign sources of energy.  The bill they introduced – H.R. 3534 – includes a new tax hike on American energy.  That’s the last thing the American people need, especially struggling families on the Gulf coast.  Americans want the government to focus squarely on holding BP accountable, cleaning up this mess, and finding out what went wrong.

“By raising taxes on the oil and natural gas produced in the United States, this legislation will raise costs for consumers, increase our dependence on foreign energy, and destroy jobs here in the United States.”

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