Rep. Grijalva, 16 Democrats Introduce Comprehensive Energy Reform Legislation to Increase Taxpayer Benefits, Promote Conservation
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The bill reforms the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, enacting long overdue improvements for environmental protection and drilling safety - which should have been made in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster - that Congressional Republicans have willfully avoided. It protects the health of people living near fossil fuel operations by restricting the amount of methane that can be leaked into the air and the amount of coal mine waste that can be dumped into streams.
The bill encourages renewable energy development instead of just paying lip service to the need for clean fuels. It also amends the Mineral Leasing Act to treat popular and sensitive natural landscapes as a resource in their own right, to be managed carefully and protectively, not simply as a cash cow to be exploited or dominated for unsustainable short-term profits.
Negotiations between the
"The Trump administration and
"As the Trump administration works to keep America addicted to the fossil fuels of the past, it is encouraging to see congressional leaders like
"At a time when the Trump administration appears willing to stop at nothing - even the law - to open up our public lands and waters to fossil fuel development and roll back important safeguards that protect our air and water, the Sustainable Energy Development Reform Act points our nation in the right direction," said
"The Sustainable Energy Development Reform Act would permanently protect the
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A full section-by-section analysis of the bill is available online at http://bit.ly/2A1G762. Among other measures, the bill:
* Comprehensively reforms onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing and permitting to improve financial returns to American taxpayers, protect the environment and other uses of public lands, increase industry transparency, discourage speculation, and codify Obama administration reforms.
* Closes loopholes that oil and gas companies take advantage of in environmental laws, such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act, and enacts strong fracking and methane waste standards.
* Reforms the federal coal leasing program, reinstates a strong stream protection rule, protects residents living near coal mines from blasting, and directs additional money to abandoned mine reclamation.
* Ensures taxpayers get a fair return by updating royalty rates for oil, gas, and coal extracted from public lands and increases outdated rental fees, bonding levels, minimum bids, and penalties.
* Encourages the development of renewable energy onshore and offshore.
* Improves climate change planning by requiring the federal government to consider the social costs of carbon and methane in planning potential major decisions and by developing climate change adaptation strategies to increase resilience.
* Permanently protects the
* Permanently authorizes and fully funds the
The bill is cosponsored by Reps.
The bill is endorsed by the
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