On Tuesday Interior Secretary Sally Jewell gave a speech on energy at the CSIS. The following are excerpts from her speech, but the headings and organization are mine:
Climate Change
This is a speech about energy – but you can’t talk about energy without talking about climate change. That’s good – one of the main reasons I left the private sector for this job was not just to talk about climate change, but do something about it. I’m proud to work for a President who is taking historic, meaningful steps to cut dangerous carbon pollution.
And so, as the person entrusted with America’s biggest land management portfolio, I’ve also got to ask questions like: What are we doing to achieve a low carbon future?...
For us at Interior, we are already adjusting our land management strategies for the impacts of climate change.
But we also need to do more to address the causes of climate change. Helping our nation cut carbon pollution should inform our decisions about where we develop, how we develop, and what we develop.
Fracking
That’s why, in the coming days, we will release a final rule related to hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – on public lands. The rule will include measures to protect our nation’s groundwater – requiring operators to construct sound wells, to disclose the chemicals they use, and to safely recover and handle fluids used in the process.
The standards only apply to activity on public and tribal lands, where, as a matter of geology, about 25 percent of America’s unconventional oil and gas sits. You can do the math: that means that three-quarters of the resources are found on state and private lands.
So, the responsibility for developing this energy safely must now be taken up in state capitals, engineering labs, and board rooms all across the country.
Flaring
In the coming months, we will also propose standards to cut methane emissions and wasted gas that result from venting and flaring during oil and gas operations.
Methane is the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and traps more than 20 times as much heat as carbon dioxide over the course of a century.
But this powerful greenhouse gas is routinely released during energy development. In fact, above northern New Mexico, where there are more than 40,000 gas wells, satellite images show a methane gas plume the size of Delaware.
We will be updating our decades-old standards to encourage the kind of infrastructure and technology that companies I’ve met with in the Bakken and Permian basins have demonstrated can reduce harmful emissions and capture the natural gas as a source of energy and revenue for the American people.
Off-shore
Building on the sweeping reforms I mentioned earlier, we will propose a rule in the coming weeks that raises the bar on blowout preventers and well control measures based on technological progress advanced by industry. Operators will be required to use best practices to protect against and effectively respond to any loss of well control.
Coal
I think most Americans would be surprised to know that coal companies can make a winning bid for about a dollar a ton to mine taxpayer-owned coal.
Coal is going to continue to be an important part of our nation’s energy mix in the future. But the Government Accountability Office, our Inspector General, and Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle agree that the federal coal program needs reform.
We need to ask ourselves: Are taxpayers and local communities getting a fair return from these resources? How can we make the program more transparent and more competitive? How do we manage the program in a way that is consistent with our climate change objectives? These are hard questions. But it’s time for an honest and open conversation about modernizing the federal coal program.
Royalty Rates
In the coming weeks, we’ll also take public comment on a proposal to give the Bureau of Land Management the flexibility to adjust royalty rates on the oil and gas resources that belong to all of us.
This is important, especially given the dramatic growth of oil production on public and tribal lands. Production has increased in each of the past six years, and overall, combined production was up 81 percent in 2014 versus 2008.
It’s not just about royalty rates. We need smarter management, too. In 2015 – incredibly – we’re still processing a majority of oil and gas permits by paper. And we’ve got about 150 inspectors in the BLM who are responsible for inspecting over 100,000 oil and gas wells spread over millions of acres of public and tribal lands.
Budget
To carry out our mission – and to be a better partner to industry – we need resources. Repeated budget cuts have tested the BLM’s ability to keep up with industry demand for new permits and to effectively enforce safety and environmental standards.
That’s why the President’s budget calls on Congress to support a strong onshore inspection program partially funded through fees...
That’s a perfect example in the budget where Congress needs to move beyond mindless austerity brought about by sequestration and make a smart investment in the future, in infrastructure and innovation. That means investing in safe and responsible energy production, but also in our ability to protect our critical landscapes, our wildlife and their habitats.
Children
...the America we want to hand our children.
...We owe it to our kids to get this right.
...and my responsibility to my granchildren's generation is at the top of my mind with every decision we make
...Every day, I think about this phrase: "We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." My job is to take the long-view.
I'm glad "it’s time for an honest and open conversation about modernizing the federal coal program." Apparently all previous conversations have been dishonest and closed.
We need an increase in royalty rates for oil and gas resources that "belong to all of us." Theoretically, everything Interior manages belongs to all of us. Where are the fee increases for Wilderness and wildlife, etc., that "belong to all of us"?
Does she really believe we think hiring more bureaucrats and issuing more regs will make Interior a "better partner to industry"?
I'm sure you noticed that spending less is "mindless" while spending more is a "smart investment." Sorry, but no cigar. The proposed fee would raise $48 million, yet results in only a $6.9 million increase in program capacity. How can that be? Because $41.1 million will be "directed towards other priority activities." Industry would be charged a new fee most of which would be spent on wildlife, wilderness, recreation or whatever (I quickly spot a +$11.2 million for National Conservation Lands and a +$6.6 million for Recreation). Combine that with a request of $93.4 million for BLM land acquisition and you can see their real priorities.
And then there's the children. Every since Clinton no one seems to justify anything based on adults and current events. We must take the "long view" to protect our children. All based on the liberal shibboleth that free markets are totally governed by short term profit returns while the DC Deep Thinkers have the luxury of making decisions for the public good over the long term.
Hogwash.
Everybody knows the time horizons for any administration are two and four years. Two years until the next Congressional election and four years until the next Presidential election. If you seek anything longer you better turn to the private sector.
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