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Miller opposes drilling for oil in pristine Alaska wilderness
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) today voted against yet another effort by the Republican Congress to drill for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.
The Republican bill, H.R. 5429, was sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) and was approved by a vote of 225-201. It would open protected lands of Alaska for oil drilling, yet it would do nothing to reduce the overall consumption of oil.
“Many people have referred to the fact that the President stood here in January and told us we were addicted to oil,” Miller said on the House floor today. “Well, the supporters of this legislation and the President of the United States are acting just like addicts. What they're doing is looking for one more quick fix. One more fix and they’ll get religion tomorrow. One more fix and they’ll get well, one more fix and they’ll go into treatment. What they're telling us is they've postponed conservation, they've postponed new technologies, and they've postponed new sources of energy...
“Now, in the eleventh hour, with American consumers suffering from $3.50 gas prices, they're buying a lotto ticket,” Miller said. “They're buying a lotto ticket and it’s called ANWR, and they're hoping to be able to redeem it. When it doesn't work, America will be deeper in debt, more dependent on foreign sources of oil than they are today because if they can get ANWR, they can once again postpone the commitments to conservation and technology.”
In the course of the debate, Miller offered a motion to prohibit the oil companies that are now avoiding billions of dollars in royalty payments to U.S. taxpayers from getting new contracts to drill for oil in the pristine lands of Alaska. The motion failed by a vote of 201-223, with many Republicans who supported a similar amendment (the Hinchey Amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill) last week flip-flopping on the measure.
Miller urged the House to support his motion on the grounds that oil companies should be required to pay their fair share of royalties before they can get access to new public lands for drilling.
“I do not support opening ANWR to oil and gas exploration, and believe that Congress is missing a historic opportunity to take a critically needed new direction in improving energy efficiency and technological innovation,” Miller said. “But whether or not you support drilling in ANWR, oil companies should be required to pay their fair share to American taxpayers. That’s what the House voted for last week when it approved an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill by our colleague from New York, Mr. Hinchey, and that is exactly what we ought to vote for today. The principle is the same.”
The federal government has since 1995 been allowing oil and gas companies to forego the payments of royalties to taxpayers for oil and gas they take out of certain public waters. Both President Bush and House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo have publicly stated that oil companies do not need any additional incentives to explore for oil at today’s prices. In February, Rep. Pombo stated: “I don't think there is a single member of Congress who thinks you should get royalty relief at $70 a barrel.”
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economy
energyandenvironment
gas prices
natural resources
wildlife
Posted by Intern, CA07 at 03:53PM | Comments ()
Democrats Fight for end to Huge Breaks for Oil Companies, Side with Taxpayers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night in the House of Representatives, Democrats fought for and won several amendments to help improve a key environmental and energy spending bill that was later approved by the House.
Congressman George Miller (D-CA) supported the amendments, including several that he co-authored, which improved what had been a very damaging bill when it first came before the House. Miller voted against the final bill despite the improvements, however, because of the inadequate funding in the bill that would undermine national environmental and public lands priorities.
The House approved Democratic and bi-partisan amendments to:
· Protect coastal communities from new natural gas drilling;
· Stop lobbyist loopholes from weakening the successful Toxics Release Inventory;
· Protect Alaska’s prized Tongass National Forest;
· Start reducing taxpayer giveaways to oil and gas giants, and;
· Improve audits by states and tribes of oil company leasing on their lands.
One of the main debates last night centered on a Democratic effort to stop taxpayer giveaways to oil and gas companies that drill for oil on undersea public lands. Known as a royalty holiday, the federal government has since 1995 been allowing oil and gas giants to forego the payments of royalties to taxpayers for oil and gas they take out of certain public lands. The program was originally designed as an incentive to drill in deep water, but now that oil is priced at $70 per barrel it has been rendered unnecessary.
Miller is a long time opponent of the royalty holiday and celebrated the victory on an amendment by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) last night during consideration of the House Interior Appropriations bill.
“The royalty giveaways to oil companies are literally Robin Hood in reverse,” said Miller. “This Congress has been stealing money from taxpayers, while lining the pockets of wealthy oil profiteers. I appreciate the steadfastness of my colleagues who have been working so hard for fairness for American taxpayers. There is no reason in the world to give oil companies a break in our current economic environment. It is taxpayers and consumers who deserve a break, and we have taken one step in their direction for a change.”
Notwithstanding the passage of several key amendments, the bill is still damaging, slashing funding for clean water protections and for national parks’ maintenance, and dramatically underfunding the Land & Water Conservation Fund that has invested $275 million in outdoor resources in California. In addition, in a badly short-sighted move, Republicans removed a Democratic provision calling for action on climate change.
“Despite the good wins for the environment and for taxpayers forced by Democrats last night, I could not support the overall bill because clean water and other important programs remain so badly underfunded,” said Miller. “House Republicans are not leading this nation when it comes to energy conservation and environmental protection. Real change takes real investments, and their short-sighted approach just isn’t enough to make any marked improvements to our environment.”
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Posted by Intern, CA07 at 04:03PM | Comments ()
House Democrats Introduce Updated Mine Safety Legislation, Urge The House To Act Immediately
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a Capitol Hill press conference today, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives today introduced comprehensive legislation to improve safety in the nation’s coal mines, and they strongly urged Congress to take immediate action on the legislation in order to prevent future coal mining deaths.
The lawmakers were joined by family members of miners killed in the explosion at the Sago Mine in Upshur County, West Virginia, in January 2006. Twelve men died at Sago; since then, another 14 coal miners have died in other accidents. That means that twenty-six coal miners have died on the job so far this year, compared with 22 in all of 2005.
Yet despite this troubling trend, House Republican leaders have so far failed to act on mine safety legislation, even though the West Virginia Congressional delegation introduced legislation – on a bipartisan basis – on February 1.
The bill introduced today builds on the West Virginia legislation. The updated bill is intended to address some of the key problems that have led to coal mining accidents, injuries and deaths, such as a lack of safety and communications equipment and technology, inadequate rescue teams, a failed law enforcement record by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration over the last five years, and weak penalties for mine operators who repeatedly violate the law.
To address these issues, the Democratic legislation – called the “Protecting America’s Miners Act” – includes the following provisions:
Increased penalties against scofflaw mine operators. The legislation would impose new fines of up to $1 million for operators who engage in a “pattern of violations” that could lead to injury or death. It would also increase the regular schedule of fines, with the minimum fine increasing from $60 to $500 and the maximum fine increasing from $60,000 to $500,000. The legislation would also ensure that the fines are collected, rather than being allowed to remain unpaid, as they often are today.
Improved equipment and technology to help miners survive an underground emergency. The legislation would require better communications and tracking equipment, increased and reliable oxygen supplies, and underground refuge stations where miners can go while they await rescue.
Improved mine rescue teams. The legislation would ensure that mine rescue teams are familiar with the mines they cover. Mine rescue teams must be located within an hour of smaller mines (those with fewer than 36 miners) and they must be located on site at larger mines. The legislation also boosts training for rescue teams, and requires mine operators to notify MSHA within 15 minutes of a serious incident.
Uniform rules for accident investigations. There are currently no uniform federal rules that govern how a mine accident investigation must be conducted. This legislation would require the Labor Department to issues such rules. In addition, MSHA must hold public hearings as part of every accident investigation.
Rights for family members of miners killed on the job. The legislation requires the Mine Safety and Health Administration to formally consult the families of fatally injured miners during an accident investigation. And it gives those families the right to ask for an investigation from an agency other than MSHA if they so choose.
Specific hazards. The legislation would require MSHA to promptly issue new rules to address three of the most pressing hazards in the nation’s underground coal mines: the flammability of conveyor belts; the effectiveness of coal mine seals (walls that block abandoned parts of mines); and respirable coal dust, the cause of black lung disease.
Focus on law enforcement, not so-called “compliance assistance”. Under the Bush administration, MSHA has increasingly focused on providing mine operators with compliance assistance, rather than on enforcing the law by holding mine operators accountable for violations. In order to shift the focus back to law enforcement, the legislation establishes a user fee, paid by mining companies, as the exclusive source of funding for government compliance assistance. All other MSHA funding must be used for law enforcement.
“Congress owes it to the miners who have died on the job, to their families, and to the thousands of active mineworkers to immediately act on good legislation to make mines safer,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “There is no excuse for the House’s failure to act when lives are at risk. I am pleased that Chairman Norwood has now agreed to our calls for action, but he must act quickly and with miners’ best interests at heart.”
“Since January 2nd of this year, 26 miners have lost their lives in tragedies in America’s coal fields. Eighteen of them were in West Virginia, including six in my district,” said Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), the senior Democrat on the House Resources Committee. “It is a statistical trend that should shame America, a country in which workplace safety is not only a tradition, but also a basic value.”
“I am pleased to be an original co-sponsor of this important mine safety legislation,” said Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY). “On behalf of the mineworkers of Kentucky and their families, I would like to call on the House to take immediate action and pass this comprehensive mining bill that will not only crack down on negligent mine operators but save lives. We shouldn’t risk another miner’s life by failing to act.”
“The bill is a long overdue and vitally important piece of legislation that will provide miners with greater safety protection, prod MSHA to do its job, and finally involve the families of miners in fatal accident investigations,” said Tony Oppegard, a former federal and state mine safety official.
The original cosponsors of the House legislation are Miller, Rahall, Chandler, and Major Owens (D-NY), the senior Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections; Alan Mollohan (D-WV); Rush Holt (D-NJ); Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Artur Davis (D-AL); and Jerry Costello (D-IL).
Posted by Intern, CA07 at 04:10PM | Comments ()
