{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-praises-epw-republican-report-on-hydraulic-fracturing", "Inhofe Praises EPW Republican Report on Hydraulic Fracturing", "2014-10-23", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "OK", "James Inhofe", "I000024", "www.inhofe.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Inhofe Praises EPW Republican Report on Hydraulic Fracturing\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, October 23, 2014\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, praised the EPW Committee Republicans\u2019 report released today titled, \u201cSetting the Record Straight: Hydraulic Fracturing and America\u2019s Energy Revolution.\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201cThrough the dedication of Ranking Member David Vitter and the hard work of committee staff, this report dispels the falsehoods perpetuated by the Obama Administration and environmental extremists about hydraulic fracturing,\u201d\u00a0said Inhofe.\u00a0\"As\u00a0I have long said, hydraulic fracturing is a time-tested, safe technology that is absolutely essential to the energy independence of the United States. This method has made way for the\u00a0oil and\u00a0natural gas boom in my state of Oklahoma, and as recent reports have shown, states like Oklahoma have led for more than 60 years in ensuring this method is well-monitored and regulated.\u00a0Unfortunately, despite the\u00a0President\u00a0touting\u00a0his support of natural gas,\u00a0the\u00a0Administration\u2019s disdain for the method to extract this clean,\u00a0cheap energy resource shows little interest in actually supporting the growth of this industry. This timely\u00a0committee\u00a0report sets the record straight and serves to remind us that the development of domestic energy provides enormous potential for our nation\u2019s economic growth and energy security.\"\r\nA copy of the report can be read by clicking here. Below are key points from the report provided by the EPW Republicans:\u00a0\r\nKey points from the report:\r\n \r\nThe United States is in the midst of an energy renaissance, as a result of the combination of two key techniques in oil and natural gas development:\u00a0 hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.\r\n \r\n \r\nFrom 2009 to 2013, there was a 6% fall in oil production and 28% fall in natural gas production on federal lands, while at the same time production on private lands increased dramatically. Most recent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimates show 90% of natural gas and 92% of oil on federal lands is either inaccessible or restricted.\r\n \r\n \r\nEnvironmental activists insist that hydraulic fracturing itself has a devastating impact on the environment, but decades of studies and empirical evidence have debunked these claims and proved otherwise.\r\n \r\n \r\nHydraulic fracturing is extensively regulated by the states and has been for over sixty years.\u00a0 When it comes to regulating hydraulic fracturing and the oil and gas industry as a whole, states, not the federal government, are in the best position to create effective policies that address each state\u2019s distinct regulatory needs.\u00a0\r\n \r\n \r\nThe Obama Administration and their far-left environmental allies are constantly attacking hydraulic fracturing in an attempt to blur the line between what is and what is not hydraulic fracturing, and to manufacture risks and associate them with the practice.\r\n \r\n \r\nMore than all other federal agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the most active against domestic fossil fuel production through hydraulic fracturing. Since in many instances the Agency does not have the direct authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing, it is creatively using other avenues such as broad studies, baseless investigations, and associated regulations to make the practice so costly and burdensome, the process and development of the resources will no longer be viable.\r\n \r\n \r\nOver the last four years, EPA has exceedingly abused its power in premeditated and concerted attacks on hydraulic fracturing highlighted in three specific cases:\u00a0 Dimock, Pennsylvania, Pavillion, Wyoming, and Parker County, Texas.\r\n \r\n \r\nDespite the Agency\u2019s efforts and political agenda in all three cases, the facts led EPA to reverse course and end their investigations without the smoking gun they so hoped to manufacture.\r\n \r\n \r\nEPA and Obama Administration also gained the support of a new ally, the EPA Office of Inspector General\u2019s office, who issued a report setting a dangerous precedent for EPA enforcement actions stating that the Agency can now halt any actions \u2013 by private citizens, businesses, and industries like oil and gas operations \u2013 based solely on their own made-up assumptions and contrived facts.\r\n \r\n \r\nMany of the Administration\u2019s policies targeting hydraulic fracturing were laid out in a 2007 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which outlined the group\u2019s favored regulatory agenda to attack domestic oil and natural gas development.\u00a0 The EPA and its far-left allies are accomplishing many of NRDC\u2019s stated policy goals, often in response to sue-and-settle arrangements or through a similar friendly petition process.\r\n \r\n \r\nDeep pocket donors are among the most prominent activists with ties to the Administration\u2019s efforts to phase out hydraulic fracturing.\u00a0 Major environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club and the NRDC are at the forefront, coordinating with the EPA, initiating legal challenges to prompt federal action, and blurring the scientific literature with spurious studies.\r\n \r\n \r\nOver the course of environmentalists\u2019 misinformation campaign, many groups have taken hypocritical positions.\u00a0 One key example is the Sierra Club, who after years of embracing natural gas, suddenly rejected it only when the Club got a generous financial deal from partnering with solar company Sungevity, Inc.\u00a0 Notably, Sungevity has received millions in subsidies from the U.S. Department of Treasury and the company gives Sierra Club a hefty donation for every solar panel purchased.\r\n \r\n \r\nAmong the most visible far-left activists carrying out the anti-fossil fuel agenda is billionaire Tom Steyer who has pledged over $100 million in campaign funds this year alone to leftist Democrats who support his agenda.\u00a0 Steyer was rumored to be in the running as President Obama\u2019s Secretary of Energy and was supported for that position by Center for American Progress co-founder and current White House climate and energy counselor, John Podesta.\u00a0\r\n \r\n \r\nOne of the most recent illustrations of Hollywood anti-fracking activists\u2019 hypocritical nature involved two film producers eager to accept Middle Eastern oil money to create an American anti-fracking film.\u00a0 Another is highlighted by anti-fossil fuel activist Leonardo DiCaprio who advocates for killing the fossil fuel industry, while riding around the world on yachts with an estimated fuel economy of one mile per gallon and paid for by oil rich Middle Eastern regimes.\r\n \r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-praises-epw-republican-report-on-hydraulic-fracturing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6341311857104301, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}