WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the decision by Democrats to allow the moratoriums on offshore drilling and oil shale regulations to expire:

 

            “On May 1, I introduced legislation that would have lifted the bans on offshore drilling and on issuing regulations for oil shale development.  I knew that in order to break our cycle of dependence on foreign oil, we must take advantage of the billions of barrels of oil offshore and in oil shale.  At the time, few gave my bill much chance of passing, and most on the other side of the aisle dismissed my ideas out of hand.

 

            “Now, not even five months later, Democrats have done a 180 on this issue. As the price of gasoline rose, the American people became outraged that Democrats have blocked us from producing offshore and from developing oil shale for many years.  The American people spoke— and joined Republicans in the Senate with a unified message: find more oil, use less.

 

            “Now that the ban on offshore drilling will end, and final regulations on oil shale can be issued, it will be up to the next President and the next Congress to decide if they want to take these resources off the table once again.  With these bans no longer in place, work can begin to allow us to tap into our abundant oil and gas resources—if our leaders don’t lock them back up next year.  Americans will be watching closely.”