Western Organization of Resource Councils
2401 Montana Avenue, #301
Billings, Montana 59101
406.252.9672 • billings@worc.org
Senate Passes Energy Bill Without Protections for Landowners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 28, 2005
The U.S. Senate approved the energy bill, S. 10, today. Nancy Sorenson, a rancher from Arvada, Wyo., issued the following statement on behalf of WORC, the Western Organization of Resource Councils.
WORC is a network of grassroots organizations representing farmers, ranchers, and consumers in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
STATEMENT BY NANCY SORENSON ON BEHALF OF WORC
Today the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill by a vote of 85 to 12. Both the Senate bill, S. 10, and the House bill, H.R. 6, fail to protect landowners harmed by booming energy development in the West. Both bills fall far short of what this country needs in an energy policy.
On the positive side, the Senate bill contains a 10% federal renewable energy standard and a three-year extension of tax credits for renewable resources, including wind. The fastest, cleanest and cheapest way to increase our energy supply and create jobs is through investments in renewables and efficiency. These provisions should stay in the final legislation.
In addition, the Senate has wisely avoided some of the worst and more controversial provisions of the House bill, most notably several exemptions for the oil and gas industry from the nation’s bedrock laws protecting our health and our air, land, and water resources. The Senate should resist efforts to include these harmful provisions in the final legislation.
This country needs a forward looking ‘Doing it Right’ energy policy that:
- This country needs a forward looking ‘Doing it Right’ energy policy that:
- Promotes a secure and diversified energy supply,
- Encourages efficient use of energy,
- Protects human health, land and water,
- Empowers landowners to have a real say in the course of mineral development on their land, and
- Ensures that energy companies, not taxpayers and landowners, bear the risk of clean-up costs.
The federal government remains stuck in the past and has surrendered its leadership. Local and state governments are now leading the way with innovative energy practices and policies. For example, many states have enacted energy efficiency codes, and 20 states already have adopted renewable energy standards.
Recently, Kathleen Clark, Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), said Wyoming’s new surface owner protection law does not apply to landowners who have federal minerals under their property. Her assertion denies property rights protections to nine of 10 split estate landowners in Wyoming. Not only is the BLM failing to protect these landowners, it’s undercutting positive efforts by the states. Congress could address this issue, but the energy bill ignores it.