Shreveport Times
Rep. John Fleming
March 4, 2010

“…In 2008 alone, production in the Haynesville Shale pumped $4.5 billion into Louisiana’s economy with some local governments reporting 300 percent increases in sales tax revenue. In addition, more than 32,000 jobs across multiple industries were created…

This enormous economic impact would be impossible without hydraulic fracturing, the technology that lets producers reach the natural gas…

Democrat Reps. Henry Waxman, of California, and Ed Markey, of Massachusetts, — the same team that brought you the job-killing, tax-hiking cap-and-trade legislation — appear to be trying the same tactics on natural gas production with recent committee action aimed toward giving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unprecedented power to enact oppressive regulations on hydraulic fracturing…

Let me be clear. I support environmental responsibility and know the critical importance of protecting our drinking water.

But like many policies making their way through Congress these days, bigger, expansive and intrusive bureaucratic red tape will not make us more environmentally responsible.

For years, hydraulic fracturing has been safely and effectively regulated by individual states…

I am deeply concerned that adding additional layers of regulations to hydraulic fracturing would not only result in a sharp increase in costs to small and independent producers, it would dramatically decrease output and job creation. Production would essentially grind to a halt, and billions of dollars in federal and state tax revenue would be at risk, all in the name of environmental concerns that are already being addressed.

If Congress is serious about tackling this country’s energy crisis and ending our dependence on foreign oil, then it is crucial they recognize what resources, such as the Haynesville Shale, will play in our long-term economic and national security. More burdensome federal regulation will only serve to hinder production and feed this country’s addiction to foreign energy.”

Click Here To Read The Full Article In The Shreveport Times