The Institute for Energy Research released the following statement about new regulations for hydraulic fracturing proposed today by the Department of Interior:
“With fossil fuel production on federal lands at a nine-year low, the last thing President Obama should be doing is imposing more red tape on domestic energy producers. Today’s announced regulations for hydraulic fracturing are but the latest component of the Administration’s war on fossil fuels. Despite President Obama’s misleading rhetoric about his energy record, his policies continue to threaten development of the domestic energy sources we need to power our economy and our future.
“America has more than 200 years of oil supply under our feet — without needing a single drop of imported oil. And we have enough natural gas to provide 175 years at current consumption levels. But the federal government only leases 3 percent of public lands for energy development, and what is available for leasing is so fraught with regulatory red tape that energy producers look instead to private and state lands for production potential. It is no surprise that 96 percent of the production increases since 2007 have taken place on non-federal lands, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service. Meanwhile, the federal share of U.S. production continues to fall.
“If President Obama is serious about his ‘all of the above’ energy plan, he would tell Ken Salazar to spend more time figuring out how to open access to America’s vast fossil fuel resources and expand hydraulic fracturing to secure our energy future — and less time contriving new ways to crucify America’s conventional energy producers with burdensome regulations, punitive taxes, and discriminatory enforcement.”
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