July 18, 2008
 
Rahall Calls for Drilling Immediately Where There’s Oil
 
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Calling for drilling in the Alaskan Oil Reserves and for a construction of a Trans-Alaskan natural gas pipeline, Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), told the full House of Representatives that the nation needs oil now, not the administration’s proposals which would take 20 years before fruition. In fact, the legislation introduced mandates that those companies that win leasing rights to the land must in the Congressman’s words “use it, or lose it.”
 
The Drill Responsibly in Leased Land (DRILL) Act (H.R. 6512) calls for leasing and drilling on the North Slope of Alaska, a pipeline to harvest 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and mandates that 68 million acres of (both onshore and offshore) oil and gas leased federal lands be moved from “warehousing” and into “production.”
 
According to Rahall, the bill requires that the oil not be exported, but utilized “for the benefit of Americans.” Acknowledging the imperative time frame for transition from foreign oil to alternative fuels, coal-to-liquids, and non-corn based alternatives, he said, “in the near term, we need to drill where the oil is already available not wait 20 years from now as the President proposes.”
 
President Bush has called for off shore drilling and the opening of additional federal areas, but the preparation process includes years of surveying, planning, leasing and challenges. All before any rig would put its drill into operation.
 
Condemning warehousing and sitting on leased lands with oil and natural gas potential, the West Virginia Democrat explained “diligent development does not mean the lease is producing, it means the company is doing something with the lease to determine whether it can be brought into production… it is the speculators we are after. Those who would play fast and loose with America’s energy resources needed for American consumers.”
 
Concluding, the House Natural Resources Committee Chairman told House members that voting for the DRILL legislation equals “voting to bring American energy to the American people… you are voting for good paying American jobs… you are voting to present American energy being exported to foreign markets,” Rahall said, adding, “drill here, drill now, on lands that can bring relief now.”