"Where have you been for the last year?" Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., questioned one witness. "This is not just a bureaucratic slowdown. This is a necessary step to see that this industry is operating properly."
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said it appeared the hearing on drilling permits was taking place "in a parallel universe where we did not suffer the worst oil spill in our history (and) where 11 men did not tragically lose their lives in the disaster."
"The high cost of oil is not caused by limits on drilling on federal land and offshore waters, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and two Democratic colleagues said Wednesday as Republicans and the industry pressed the issue.
Menendez, D-N.J., said at a news conference on Capitol Hill that 60 million of the 78 million acres of lands and waters already leased to oil and gas companies are not in production."
"Jesse Prentice-Dunn, transportation policy analyst at the Sierra Club, [said]
"I think hopefully [rising gas prices] will focus our attention on the addiction to foreign oil and allow us to really address the problem," [...]
"I think $5 a gallon gas is the best incentive I know to find a rational energy plan that would create jobs, make us more energy independent and clean up the air," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.""Retired Marine Lt. Col. Brian Kramer asked that the panel keep the issue of national defense in its discussions as it develops recommendations for the governor.
"Our nation is addicted to oil … and as long as we are, we are going to be bound to a part of the world that doesn't share our values," he said.
Kramer said he is against oil exploration, and finding oil off the coast of North Carolina would not end that tie to the Middle East.
While one person spoke in favor of offshore drilling and the jobs it could produce, the majority of the support was for clean, renewable energy."
