Washington, DC- Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) today issued the following statement in response to an Associated Press article stating that oil statistics show the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) imposed tougher enforcement during the Bush Administration than during the Obama Administration.

“The Associated Press story misses the mark regarding the threat of the Obama Administration to oil and gas development. Despite the moratorium and its after effects on offshore development in the Gulf of Mexico and the Administration’s failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, private sector oil and gas development is still thriving. Just think where we would be if the president had made common sense decisions regarding these two issues.

"The real threats from the EPA and other Obama agencies are the numerous rules targeting domestic energy production and power generation – the benefits of which have been vastly overstated.  The New Source Performance Standards for oil and gas wells will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and slow the boom in domestic natural gas production. 

“The Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule - which is really intended to weaken fossil fuel power generation – will also have a detrimental effect on our economy.  Jobs will be eliminated and electric bills will increase an average of 6.5% as a result of the $21 billion annual cost of the rule.   If these regulations are implemented as planned, we will be in a world of hurt.”  

Click Here to view the Associated Press article that was published in the Houston Chronicle today.

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