Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. DUNCAN. This amendment I am speaking in opposition to is actually shortsighted.
We have been producing oil and gas offshore all over the country on the Outer Continental Shelf for a very long time. We can do it safely.
I believe the ones who don't want to see the areas mentioned in this amendment opened up for offshore leasing really just don't want fossil fuel development.
We are in an energy renaissance in this country where we are finding more oil and gas, to the point that we are now a net exporter of oil and a net exporter of gas. That means we are producing more in this country than we are using in this country, so we have a surplus. We are able to help our friends and allies around the world, in Europe, to lessen their dependence on Russian gas.
Shutting down the opportunity to explore on the Outer Continental Shelf in these areas is really not wanting to find out what is out there. What harm does it do to look, to begin the seismic work, to find out what may be off the coast of the great State of South Carolina?
Recently, they just found, off the coast of Suriname and Guyana, 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas by using 21st-century, 3D seismic technology. If we allowed the seismic work to happen in these areas that y'all are wanting to exclude from energy exploration, we might find 32 trillion, 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Then the Southeast is playing in the energy renaissance in this country.
I think this is shortsighted. What harm does it do to look, to allow these areas to be opened for exploration and then, ultimately, production to help meet the energy needs of this Nation and others around the world going forward?
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Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chair, I have seen, in the Natural Resources Committee, when I was there years ago, where fear tactics were used, saying that whales and other sea mammals, dolphins, would be killed because of the seismic work.
We had the chief biologist from BOEM say not a single marine mammal has ever been harmed in the exploration and seismic work that we have done all over the globe, off the coast of the Falklands, in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Africa. These fear tactics of oil spills and things are just shortsighted on meeting our energy needs, and the gentleman from Arizona gets that.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
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Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chair, I would urge my colleagues to defeat this amendment because I think it is shortsighted. There are States that want to play in the energy matrix. They want to play in the renaissance. They want to, hopefully, experience a 37.5 percent revenue-sharing back to the State.
Hopefully, they can experience the jobs that are created in the oil and gas industry that is an economic boom, not only for the State coffers through tax revenue but also with the jobs that are created in those communities.
Mr. Chair, I would urge my colleagues to defeat this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise as the immediate past chairman of the Congressional Sportsman's Caucus, the largest bipartisan caucus in the United States Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, and I agree with what the gentleman from Alaska just said.
Hunters have conserved more acres and protected more animals all across the globe than many in this Chamber.
I realize we are an urban Nation, that we are having more representation from urban areas and we have gotten away from our days of hunting and fishing and understanding the role that the hunter plays in conservation, but, as the gentleman from Alaska said, we are going to tell other countries that they can't allow hunting because we are going to shut off the ability of the American hunter to bring certain trophies back.
These folks live with 5-ton animals that are damaging their crops, a whole season's worth of crops in one single night. Elephants are dangerous.
Ultimately, if you take the hunter out of that situation, the hunter is paying with his hard-earned dollars, not your tax dollars, his money.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to defeat this amendment.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I rise today with an amendment to ensure that no funds go to the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.
In 2015, Obama's Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule for the Clean Power Plan, with the intent to reduce CO
While this sounds well intended, it is important that we look at the costly and burdensome reality of the so-called Clean Power Plan.
It would cause a slew of economic, environmental, and legal problems. Families and businesses would be hit the hardest with more expensive energy and utility bills. And for what?
According to climatologist Paul Knappenberger: ``Even if we implement the CPP to perfection, the amount of climate change averted over the course of this century amounts to about 0.02 centigrade. This is so small as to be scientifically undetectable and environmentally insignificant.''
It is evident that the Clean Power Plan is nothing more than a feel- good environmental regulation promulgated by the radical environmental left and is based on a trajectory that is negligible, all while driving up the cost for average American families.
Beyond the negligible effects of the Clean Power Plan, it is legally unfounded and may even be unconstitutional. In the words of Laurence Tribe, who testified before Congress: ``EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the States, Congress, and the Federal courts--all at once. Burning the Constitution should not become part of our national energy policy.''
Because of its legal issues, more than half the States in the country petitioned the Supreme Court to pause the Clean Power Plan implementations. A stay was issued in 2016.
I strongly commend the Trump administration for taking action on this issue this week and replacing the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy rule. This move paves the way for affordable and clean energy, and I encourage my colleagues to support my amendment and support continued American energy dominance.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), one of the cosponsors of this amendment.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), one of the other cosponsors of this amendment.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I rise today with an amendment at the desk to ensure that we develop energy resources located in a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
This development is long overdue, and the decision of Congress to authorize that development through the historic tax reform legislation should not be revisited. We should proceed as planned to further American energy dominance.
The opening of a small part of ANWR for oil and gas drilling will increase access to our resources and will help decrease the prices of oil and gas for the American people.
Alaska contains 192 million acres of parks, refuges, wilderness areas, and nature preserves, and 19.5 million acres of this is in ANWR. Before tax reform and the opening of ANWR, 92 percent of the 19.5 million couldn't legally be touched by drilling.
The law changed to open new opportunities for responsible energy development, and we shouldn't backtrack. This area was set aside to be opened in 1980 by a Democrat-controlled Congress and is limited to 2,000 Federal acres, just 0.0001 percent of the ANWR.
We should move forward with the development of this region as it will create jobs, lower prices of oil and gas, and continue to move us forward with American energy dominance.
I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment and our continued energy success in the United States, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chairwoman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), who is one of the cosponsors of the amendment and the dean of the House.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Joyce).
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
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