Transcripts For CSPAN Domestic Energy And The Economy 201401

Billion dollar regulation and was the top priority by osm. In the report, you detail how the director called the former Regulatory Support Division chief to his office and expressed concerns about the leaked job loss numbers and how they could embarrass the president , since he had just delivered the state of the Union Message indicating that jobs would grow in the administration. The report cites and osm official who was the project manager, who quoted the director is telling him that obviously , andhing needs to change he was to figure out a way the assumptions could be changed so the numbers did not look so bad. Another osm employee testified that her impression was that this direction ultimately came from the director. The job lossheard number was going to be hard to overcome. Yet when reporting on your interview with the director regarding changing the baseline he said he did not know who made the decision. Is that even believable . All of theman, things you have just expressed are in our report, and we have reported for consideration by the department, by the bureau, and by this body, by this congress, for action as appropriate. Forhe oig is responsible pursuing allegations, gathering facts, and providing that information back to Decision Makers about what action might be appropriate to take. Could a director not be aware of such an important decision that was Getting National Media Coverage through the associated press, and was consuming his agency with meetings, public conferences, and letters to on a multimillion dollar contract . I cannot speak for what the director may or may not have been informed. Do you believe the director was being honest in his response . Congressman, we found no evidence that he was being dishonest. The statements i just quoted, you think those were his statements . Or were they not correct . We would have to pick those apart piece by piece. Most of those statements were made by the project manager. I hope you are picking those piece by piece, and i hope you are not going to allow politics to get in the decision. Thank you. That ms. Shead question andbrief is recognized. Thank you. I had a colleague state there was not mining going on inside of streams. I wanted to quote from the federal register the rules and regulations, activities in and adjacent to streams. Application requirements for , youre mining activities application must demonstrate that avoiding disturbance of the stream is not reasonably possible. Requirements for Surface Mining activities within 100 feet of a perennial or intermittent stream, your application must demonstrate that avoiding disturbance of land within 100 feet of the stream either is not reasonably possible or is not necessary to meet requirements. I thought it was important, and i thank you for giving me the opportunity to state that this is indeed an issue for natural resources, clearly, because it is in the rule. I yield back. I want to thank all the members for being here. Time,. Knox, from time to after these hearings, further ifons arise, and we further questions do arise, we will send you a letter and ask you to respond back. And we would ask you to respond back in a very timely manner. What i very much appreciate the report that you have given us. I appreciate the time you have given us and your answers, particularly the last exchange of had with mr. Smith, where you there,put the facts out however those are to be interpreted are for us to interpret. I alluded to that when i spoke a moment ago, and i think that is exactly where mr. Smith was commenting. Others may have different views. But you have given us the facts where these things were said in a timeline that, for lack of a , ifer word, is curious there was not a motivation other than the conclusion you came from dutch came to. Thank you for your report. Before we adjourn, i want to make a brief statement, because this has been an ongoing issue. Concernsad issues and about this rulemaking process for nearly three years. This ig report raises further questions, what the Obama Administration did to manipulate the data, to lessen the economic impacts. What the administration is currently doing as they move forward with this rewrite. There is now bipartisan opposition to this rulemaking process. This committee will continue our oversight efforts and our advancement of legislation to put an end to this job destroying rewrite. We alluded to that. Hearing, conclude this i want to follow up on something i said last december. One of the topics mentioned was how we could continue with of thisve oversight administration, how we are running out of patience with this lack of transparency and ongoing refusal to provide us with documents and information that we have been seeking, and in some case seeking for years. As this hearing shows, with many members, our patience is running out. It is troubling that the interior department continues to withhold documents about this matter and is again telling the ig not to provide documents. We have a culture in the office of management and budget refusing to turn over all subpoenaed documents and make witnesses available to the community for our investigation into the secure rural schools program. We have the interior department refusing to turn over documents and make witnesses available in a number of matters, including our investigations into ethics within the department and conflicts of interest by senior officials within the department. Been exceedingly patient this past year and have waited to give the new interior secretary a chance to get up to speed. But as the administrations refusal to provide the necessary information has left us no other choice than to precede and to utilize proceed and utilize all available tools of this committee, including the uses of subpoenas, court documents, and potentially subpoenas for witnesses. I want to tell the committee that we are going to continue this. From my perspective, as i mentioned, our patience is wearing thin. We are going to be very aggressive on this this year. Business to come before the committee, the committee stands adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] turning now to iran and the agreement reached back in november by the p5 plus one countries on its Nuclear Program , it was announced earlier today that the terms of the deal will be implemented starting next monday, january 20, when iran will begin limiting its uranium enrichment to 5 , which is commonly used to power reactors. It will be expected to start neutralizing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Sanctions will be eased in exchange for six months. President obama released a statement. And House Majority leader eric cantor says illinois senator mark kirk wade invia twitter weighed via twitter. And california congressman adam schiff says next, we are going to turn to alaska senator lisa murkowski. She was speaking at the Brookings Institution about what can be done to bolster u. S. Energy exports. She is currently the Top Republican on the Senate Energy and National Resources committee. This ran about 50 minutes. Brookings. To i am the managing director here. We are delighted that we are joined today by senator murkowski. Cashf my favorite johnny songs going up was called springtime in alaska. Is springtime it in alaska, it is 40 below. By that standard, it is downright balmy in washington, d. C. The senator is the Top Republican on the Senate Energy committee. Territory as the u. S. West of the mississippi. She thinks in large terms about issues like energy in particular, and has a big track record on this issue. Today we are here to discuss the implications on the domestic economy, on our National Security and our energy security. And with the whole or vortex being all the rage, we forgot about the polarization that often chills washington. Senator murkowski is an important voice because of her ability to work across party lines. She is the only republican senator from a west coast state, and only one of three u. S. Senators ever elected by right in ballot, each means she speaks ballot, which means she speaks for a nonpartisan groundswell. We hope she feels warm here at brookings on a cold day. She has been a consistent supporter of sensible, Pragmatic Energy policy. That means a stand against subsidies for oil and Gas Companies where warranted, that also for the right kinds of investment, infrastructure, and policies that connect us to the world. She understands the vital role of energy in our economy. Not just Oil Production in alaska, but renewable and natural gas across the country. She has supported Oil Production and exploration in alaska, of course, but also Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing, horizontal drilling into the coastal plain, and developing technologies for Renewable Energies and carbon sequestration. She understands this takes place in the global context. Alaska not only borders canada to its east, but as syrup as sarah palin reminds us, russia to its west. Economic potential benefits as well as impact on energy prices, reduction, and the broader economy back home. The secretary of energy has said these issues are all worth re examining. So we are really delighted that senator murkowski is here to have a conversation with us about these topics today. Oilmericans consume less and produce more of it, it is time to revisit Energy Policy. But energy is not just about how we get and use fuel. It is also about the environmental consequences. Senator murkowski is a terrific guest, one of the few Senate Republicans who has argued we need to take Climate Change seriously. On a day when many of us are wishing for more warming around here, we also look ahead to a coming january weekend this coming weekend where temperatures are predicted to be back in the 60s. Understanding that the science is real but also emerging and hasving, the senator supported Energy Efficiency legislation and a greater understanding of the need to adapt to a warmer world. Beforehand, we were talking about the fact that one of her favorite ski resorts near anchorage is starting to lose its base at the bottom because it has been too warm out there. We would be happy to trade places with them today i am sure. She is also focused on making sure climate and Energy Efforts do not burden middleclass families unduly. She has been firm in asking countries such as india and china to take a similar stand when dealing with carbon emissions. There are opportunities for rethinking energy trade, the focus of todays conversation. We look forward from hearing senator murkowski on how our country will answer important questions about the changing Global Energy landscape. With that, we are delighted to have senator murkowski. [applause] thank you for the introduction. For those of you that may be standing in the back, there are some seats up front. This is not like church. And i am not going to ask you the questions. You will have the opportunity to ask me. I am pleased to see so many of you here this morning. Rates will to the Brookings Institution for the opportunity to be here today on a good, brisk washington morning. I am not going to comment on the weather other than to say we will take that whole are for tax rtex back. Lar vo send ito not like it, back north, where it belongs. I would like to go straight to the heart of the matter that i wish to discuss with you today. This is where we are as a nation when it comes to our Energy Production. According to the Energy Information administration, last july saw u. S. Domestic Energy Production reached over seven quadrillion btu, the highest monthly total on record. Let me repeat that. We are producing more energy today than ever before in this country. This dramatic increase in production from all sources of energy has resulted in a dramatic sea change in our Nations Energy trade. In the process, we are creating jobs. We are lowering prices. We are reducing our trade deficit. Think about where we are right now. We are selling coal to the netherlands, morocco, and germany. France,te fuel to chile, and argentina. Petroleum coke to turkey and china. Gasoline to colombia, brazil, and panama. Israel, andbritain, nigeria. Natural gas to canada and mexico. And natural gas liquids to switzerland, honduras, and aruba. I could go on. I know that you probably know these facts well, and did not come here today to recite facts. , as good ascause this story is, these developments have transpired in spite of the federal government, not because of it, as the to imply. Seeks the rules on energy trade were written long ago for a now bygone world in which scarcity, not abundance, was the prevailing moral prevailing mindset. A hodgepodge of regulations has accumulated over the better part of a century, kind of like barnacles on the whole of a ship. Hull of a ship. It may briefly sketch out the maze we are dealing with. The state department reviews butsborder oil pipelines, petroleum products, crude oil, and condensate fall under the Commerce Department. Energy Department Grants export licenses for natural gas, but the Commerce Department permits exports of natural gas liquids. Ferc regulates crossborder natural gas pipelines. E and her noble Energy Renewable energy flows to trading partners while nuclear exports are tightly regulated, as they should be. Even professionals in the Energy Sector are unaware of the role federal trade agencies play in this area. The export import bank, the overseas private investment corporation, and the trade and development agency, and other entities, advance the u. S. Energy trade. In legal terms, what we are talking about our laws such as 1938, thel gas act of Atomic Energy act of 1954, the Energy Policy and conservation executive5, and orders that stretch all the way back to the eisenhower administration. At thecent Workshop Center for Strategic Energy studies, they encourage participants to think about the regulation of Energy Exports in terms of the underlying chemistry. The chemical formulation for methane is ch4. You have one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. This can be sold to canada and mexico through a pipeline without much of a regulatory hurdle. If you want to build a facility seaborneefies gas for transport to japan, you need a license from the Energy Department to export it and another approval from for to build your facility. Years. Ocess can take if you are determined to build an lng facility, you are in luck. One of the and get projects our government is helping finance over there. Moleculeke a methane and attach a few chemicals to the Commerce Department will grant you an export license without much delay at all. What you do not want to fiddle with the formula too much or you might end up with a barrel of crude oil, the export of which is generally prohibited unless you can process it through a refinery, in which case you can export it as diesel. You can also ship the crude to canada, where apparently the laws of chemistry do not apply. The regulatory edifice that governs the export of american and atergy is antiquated times, i would suggest, even absurd. While there is no perfection under the sun, we surely can do better than this. Today, i am releasing a white paper. This is a second that i have released. It is called a signal to the world regulating the architecture of u. S. Energy exports. It follows on the energy 2020 blueprint and the lng white paper i released last year. Last year, i had the opportunity to release energy 2020. We have since done one white paper. This is the second, and there will be a third soon. I have two goals with this particular paper. The first is to highlight the facts. Is theus about the facts basis of productive dialogue. My second goal is to help frame about the state of u. S. Energy exports, the architecture of the energy trade. Of although certain aspects the Energy Exports stories have been in the public by for quite eye fore now public quite some time now, i am not aware of another report it shows a full picture through a single lens. Releasing reports from the Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that contain a great deal of information, some of which is not generally available, about areas aspects of the u. S. Energy trade. The facts tell me we must modernize the regulations that exports,ergy demonstrating to the world that we are committed committed to leading on issues of energy, the environment, and trade. I am not proposing comprehensive Energy Export legislation. I believe that the executive branch has the Statutory Authority to implement most of these ideas on its own. Needf the president does help from the legislative branch, he will always have an open partner in me on the Energy Committee. I am willing to introduce small, targe