WASHINGTON — Institute for Energy Research President Thomas Pyle released the following statement on the Obama administration’s hydraulic fracturing regulation:
“The Obama administration is being dishonest about its intentions. This new hydraulic fracturing rule isn’t about protecting the environment, but rather about curtailing domestic energy production, which has been this administration’s goal all along.
Interior Secretary Jewell says we’ve seen ‘dramatic growth’ of oil production on federal lands, yet production on federal lands has actually declined under this administration in the midst of record energy production on state and private lands.
“Imposing federal controls on hydraulic fracturing is this administration’s latest regulatory scheme for disrupting America’s domestic energy boom. From proposing to block off ANWR and parts of Alaska’s energy-rich offshore areas to slow-walking drilling permits and fast-tracking green energy leases, President Obama remains determined to strangle domestic energy production by any means necessary.
“The Obama administration’s hydraulic fracturing rule is a solution in search of a problem. States are already regulating hydraulic fracturing on public lands and have done so successfully for years without federal interference.
“The federal government has no business interfering with states’ rights to regulate energy development. The Bureau of Land Management should withdraw its hydraulic fracturing rule.”
Click here to read IER’s blog post on the decline of energy production on federal lands under the Obama administration.
Click here to read the BLM’s hydraulic fracturing regulation.
