Sometimes you just have to laugh.
The House voted Tuesday 222-196 in support of a rule for two bills Republicans say will help support the development of energy in the country, and create jobs in the process. The first is H.R. 1965, or Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, which shrinks deadlines for approving (or denying) drilling permits on federal land. (Fracking alert!)
Introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), the legislation approves onshore drilling permits automatically if the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) fails to act within sixty days. Another stipulation in the bill states that those who wish to oppose a proposed drilling project would have to cough up five thousand dollars in order to do so — an outrageous notion! But not out of the question in this era of corporate “personhood.”
The second bill under the rule — H.R. 2728, also known as Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy (introduced by Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) — blocks pending federal rules on fracking in states that already have regulations on fracking in place, no matter how scarce or lenient they may be. (Hmmm… one senses a theme, here…)
Clearly both bills are designed to further open up and exploit America’s natural resources, no matter how dirty they may be, no matter how high the cost.
Research manager of the Center for American Progress’ Public Lands Project, Jessica Goad, has said that fracking “takes a large amount of energy and money, as well as 3 – 5 barrels of water per barrel of oil produced, a dangerous issue in the parched West.”
And if water gets too scarce, all the better; Nestle will be happy to sell it to you at “friend” prices. Surely you can trust Nestle, Ice Mountain, or any other brand.? Corporations will care for you when austerity takes hold, when the scarcity in your belly yells a rebel yell. Sure they will tiger. With no pie for Americans to grab a piece of any longer, one will still be able to beg for a sip, or at least dream for one.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) has lobbied, however, that both bills are necessary in order to improve states’ energy development of federal land. Current restrictions, he said, have resulted in less funding for “education” (read propaganda) out west. Eastern states, he claimed, are increasing “education” funds twice as much by comparison. Bishop said:
States in the west who are public land states have a difficult time of funding their education system when they are prohibited from being able to develop a lot of the resources which are found in those western states.? To vote against these bills unintentionally harms kids and harms education in the west.
How and why education should be tied to the oil market is another article entirely.
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) felt the lack of depth in the rule, allowed for communities with very few rules regarding fracking, to be caught with their pants down, leaving them particularly vulnerable to becoming prey to the industry. Polis said:
The sounds of the 24-hour a day and night operation led us to invite my father-in-law to have to stay with us in Boulder, in our apartment, on our couch, during the active phase of the drilling process.
His own father-in-law had fallen victim after all.? Who is to say next it will not be your own, or you?
Make no mistake it is always the communities that fall prey. Local profits are temporary, miniscule, and short-term compared to the pillaging of our land and home, and our hunting and fishing grounds.
The Natural Resources Defense Council has called shale oil “the dirtiest fuel on the planet;” emitting four times as much carbon pollution as gasoline. (China, coincidentally, is one of the world’s largest importers of oil shale. Have you seen their air pollution problem, lately?)
Members of the House are set now to debate H.R. 1965, the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, as well as up to eight more amendments to the bill Tuesday. Due to “a significant amount of committee activity this afternoon and evening,” however, official votes will not take place until Wednesday.
A group of Democratic opponents of the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act stated:
This bill is not simply anachronistic; it is dangerous. It would harm the environment, short-circuit reviews, and establish barriers to people wishing to challenge decisions on oil and gas development in their backyards.
As Utah Phillips used to say:
The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.
Take note.
Edited by SS
