WASHINGTON – In an attempt to insert facts into the debate about the United States’ offshore drilling policies, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) today prepared testimony for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling’s public hearing in Washington, D.C. IER President Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement about his testimony.
“The energy debates in Washington are riddled with misinformation at every level. Contrary to President Obama’s rhetoric, this nation is blessed with plentiful energy resources. In spite of Interior Secretary Salazar’s claims, the previous Administration did not implement a drill “anywhere, anyhow” policy. As long as President Obama and Secretary Salazar continue to do everything within their power to perpetuate these and other fallacies, our nation will continue to unnecessarily rely on unstable foreign regimes to meet our energy needs. The offshore moratorium is an affront to the men and women who used to wake up every morning and produce the much-needed energy resources we need to fuel our cars and cool our homes.
“I urge the Spill Commission to use today’s hearing as an opportunity to set the record straight. The Administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling, and its de facto moratorium on shallow water drilling, is killing the already burdened Gulf Coast economy. President Obama, please let a serious crisis go to waste and put the American people back to work safely producing the energy that this nation so desperately needs to power our economy out of the wilderness.”
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.
