By EDWARD BIRNBAUMU.S. Rep. Steve Pearce claims, in a recent Los Alamos Daily Post news release (link), that his vote for H.R. 2910 is a vote for reducing the bureaucracy associated with approving construction of oil and gas pipelines. However, the dissent expressed by the Ranking Member on the Committee that considered this legislation, Frank Pallone, Jr., and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy, Bobby L. Rush, summarized some important problems associated with the bill, which were ignored in Rep. Pearce’s statement, as quoted below.
“H.R. 2910 short circuits the process for considering natural gas project applications at the expense of private property owners, state and tribal rights, and the environment. The bill is unnecessary, not only because infrastructure permitting streamlining is already occurring at FPISC, but also because 88 percent of these projects are being certificated within one year. At best, it is a solution in search of a problem; at worst, it is an assault on private property rights and the environment in the name of corporate profit and expediency.”
A key concern regarding this legislation is that it makes it easier to apply the ’eminent domain’ approach to the taking of land for the benefit of corporate pipeline builders, so it’s not just about reducing bureaucracy as Rep. Pearce implies. It will allow aerial surveys of land without owner permission, which will make it easier to ignore the objections of any landowner. All attempts to amend the legislation to reduce the likelihood of invoking eminent domain, were rejected.
Republicans typically express support for the rights of individuals, but this legislation clearly trumps (no pun intended) the rights of landowners with the needs of pipeline companies.
In a time of low oil and gas prices, what’s the rush to make it even easier to build more pipelines at the expense of those whose land just happens to be in the way?
