Bingaman on Offshore Energy Plans
January 21, 2009
04:52 PM
“This is a significant development. I am pleased that the Interior Department has fulfilled its requirements to analyze the environmental and safety impacts of the first major offshore clean energy development project that has come before it. In the 2005 energy bill, I sought to clarify and simplify the process for permitting offshore renewables. This is the first use of that new authority. It is good to see that it is working. It will be up to the incoming Administration to build on this record to ensure that the project is permitted in a way that meets energy, environmental and safety objectives.
“The Interior Department also has issued a draft 5-year plan for offshore oil and gas development that will raise some concerns in certain coastal states. At his confirmation hearing yesterday before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Secretary-designate Salazar promised to take a thoughtful approach toward this issue that would feature close collaboration with coastal states. I have great confidence that he and the team that he and President Obama will put together at the Department of the Interior will find the right balance between meeting our energy needs, which will involve increased oil and gas production over the medium term, and protecting our coastlines and coastal waters.”
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