Bingaman Greets President’s Proposal To Accelerate Leasing
July 30, 2008
06:02 PM
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today directed the Minerals Management Service to begin planning a new 5-year offshore oil and gas program that could result in the acceleration of leasing in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico, and in the study of areas already available for leasing but not included in the current 5-year plan.
Sound familiar? It should -– part of this initiative is exactly what Jeff Bingaman and other Senate Democrats have been calling for all week! While the Democratic proposal does not call for lifting leasing moratoria, it does call for prompt action by the Administration in areas containing some 70 billion barrels of oil. We’re pleased that President Bush has seen the wisdom of our proposals, even if Republicans in the U.S. Senate have not.
Sen. Bingaman: “This is very good news -– that the Administration has embraced the proposals that Senate Democrats have been calling for all this week. Recently I praised Secretary Kempthorne for speeding up lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Secretary Kempthorne appears to be using his authority wisely.”
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