Letter to Congress

Proposed Bill: H.R. 4535: Keep It in the Ground Act of 2016

-Proposed by: Mr. Huffman (for himself, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. Honda, Ms. Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Grayson, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Gutiérrez, Mr. McGovern, Mr. DeSaulnier, and Mr. Grijalva)

-Referred to: The Committee on Natural Resources

-Purpose: To prohibit drilling in the outer Continental Shelf, to prohibit coal leases on Federal land, and for other purposes.

-Section 5: Stopping new coal, oil, tar sands, fracked gas, and oil shale leases on federal land. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not conduct any lease sale, enter into any new lease, reoffer for lease any land covered by an expiring lease, or renew, reinstate, or extend any nonproducing lease in existence on or before the date of enactment of this Act for onshore fossil fuels, including coal, oil, tar sands, oil shale, and gas on land subject to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

Dear Members of the Committee on Natural Resources,

A recently proposed bill, intended to pass in legislature has come to our attention, H.R. 4535 it prohibits drilling in the outer Continental Shelf along with the prohibition of coal leases on federal land. We of the Patriots 4 Fracking, an interest group that advocates for the practice of fracking, urge the members of this committee to reconsider their verdict on this issue. While we have come to understand that there are many safety precautions that need to be addressed in order to continue fracking, as well as fine-tune the ways to prevent fracking from damaging the environment entirely, we strongly believe that without this most recent venture, the American public will not be able to shake off the oil dependency we have developed from oil rich countries.

We believe that the key to promoting jobs in America is by endorsing the practice of fracking. Not only will it help struggling Americans get back on their feet, but it will also end our dependency on foreign oil. Fracking will allow the U.S. to become a leader in the production of natural gas and oil and cut gas and oil prices in half. We now live in a world that has become heavily dependent on oil and natural gas, and if we continue to rely on foreign exporters, the price of oil and gas will only go up. In addition, it is important to point out some of the shortages we may experience if we continue to rely on oil, especially oil in countries that have experienced or are now experiencing inner turmoil.

It has also recently come to our attention that the “Keep it in the Ground act of 2016”, otherwise known as “H.R. 4535”, does not take into account those states that rely heavily on the production of oil and natural gas through fracking. Our group operates out of Colorado, a state that has recently adopted fracking habits, and as a result, fracking has allowed the economy here to grow. This bill would thus pose an inconvenience to many of the people here who rely on fracking for their jobs as well as for their energy. This bill was proposed by a California representative, Jared Huffman, and while we respect Congressman Huffman as a representative in the state of California, fracking is not nearly as important to the economy in California as it is to us here in Colorado. We believe that the positive effects of fracking have greatly benefited our state. Since this act has been proposed, early this year in February, gas prices have gone up by nearly 70 cents across the state of Colorado. Not only that, but gas prices in California have also increased by about 50 cents.

We appreciate Congressman Huffman’s concern for the environment, but as citizens of Colorado, we do not want gas prices to increase any more than they really need to. We therefore ask that this committee rethink passing this bill, as it could potentially influence higher gas prices in the future.

While there are many concerns around the environmental aspect of this bill it is important to keep in mind that fracking is the result of reformed technology. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the result of a drill that can move vertically and horizontally. Before fracking drills were only able to move vertically, greatly reducing their productivity, fracking takes away the need for hundreds of drills with just one. These are important facts to look at because with proper management drilling could be more efficient than ever. Fracking’s largest problem is seen in how it must use slickwater to fracture rock and get to the source of oil, although if this is done correctly the rock will eventually reform itself and there will be no long term damage. “A federal study done in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Energy(DOE), found no evidence that chemicals from the fracking process had contaminated groundwater at one Pennsylvania drilling site.” With careful monitoring of the fracking process we could self sustain our oil dependency, loosen our reliance on imported oil while keeping the environment used safe.

References

GasBuddy.com, By. "Historical Price Charts." Historical Gas Price Charts. Accessed October 14, 2016. https://blog.gasbuddy.com/Retail_Price_Chart.aspx.

"Facts About Fracking." LiveScience. Accessed October 14, 2016. http://www.livescience.com/34464-what-is-fracking.html.