|
"The energy agreement that Congressional Republicans cooked up is wrong for America and is certainly wrong for New Jersey.
"The most distressing part of the energy conference report is a provision that will start an unnecessary inventory of oil and gas under the outer continental shelf (OCS). This means we could see seismic testing and other environmentally damaging activities that open the door for outright drilling, which would devastate New Jersey's coastal communities. We already have a good idea of how much oil and gas is under the OCS -- why do we need to conduct this inventory?
"There is no major prize of oil and gas under the OCS off New Jersey, and trying to get at the little there is, simply is not worth the cost. The impact to coastal and marine environments -- and thus to our tourism economy -- could be devastating.
"Those who wrote this bill are eager to try to get every little drop of oil they can, but the truth is that we will never be able to drill our way to energy independence. Sadly, rather than taking an opportunity to move towards a sustainable energy future, Congressional Republicans want to do little more than give massive tax breaks to corporate polluters and encourage more environmentally damaging oil and gas drilling.
"This conference agreement lacks any requirement to use renewable energy for producing electricity, something New Jersey has shown leadership on at a state level. It lacks any provisions to help improve the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks, which would be the best way to bring down gas prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It even lacks a common-sense provision requiring the President to find a way to reduce our oil consumption, which is definitely in the best interests of our national security.
"Independent analyses have shown that under this agreement we will import more foreign oil and our gas prices will keep going up. It's a shame that Congressional Republicans -- and the President -- have insisted on pursuing such a misguided approach to our energy future." |
