Flores Statement Regarding Interior's Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations

Statement

U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) issued the following statement regarding the newly released Department of Interior hydraulic fracturing regulations:

"The American energy revolution has resulted in record energy production on state and private lands. This revolution has been responsible for a significant portion of recent job growth and for a renaissance in American manufacturing. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has slowed energy production on federal lands and offshore waters. The additional burdens that the administration has proposed today are nothing more than a solution in search of a nonexistent problem that will further impede production on taxpayer owned lands. The fact of the matter is that states have been safely and effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing on both government and privately owned lands for decades.

"These new, duplicative federal regulations create more red tape, ignore state expertise in this area and are a waste of scarce taxpayer dollars. Rather than duplicating and complicating state efforts with these onerous regulations, the administration should be focused on partnering with the states where record energy production is already occurring in an environmentally safe manner. Increased domestic production leads to more American manufacturing jobs, a better economy, a smaller deficit, American energy security and improved geopolitical security."

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