Obama’s New Executive Order Claims Unilateral Control Over Energy Industry

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
April 17,2012

 

 

 

President Barack Obama signed another executive order called Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources. Obama is seeking to create a super committee that will control regulation and development of (what he calls) the “unconventional” natural gas industry. His purpose is to coerce Americans into believing he is concerned about ensuring that our natural gas supplies are handled in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. In reality Obama has now taken the power to unilaterally shut down natural gas production by standards that reflect his political agenda and not regulations deemed appropriate by law.

The President has created the path for his own 13 action agencies that will carry out his decrees, fix governmental control over pricing and centralize control over the natural energy industry as a national resource.

In the E.O., Obama contents:

While natural gas production is carried out by private firms, and States are the primary regulators of onshore oil and gas activities, the Federal Government has an important role to play by regulating oil and gas activities on public and Indian trust lands, encouraging greater use of natural gas in transportation, supporting research and development aimed at improving the safety of natural gas development and transportation activities, and setting sensible, cost-effective public health and environmental standards to implement Federal law and augment State safeguards.

Because efforts to promote safe, responsible, and efficient development of unconventional domestic natural gas resources are underway at a number of executive departments and agencies (agencies), close interagency coordination is important for effective implementation of these programs and activities.  To formalize and promote ongoing interagency coordination, this order establishes a high-level, interagency working group that will facilitate coordinated Administration policy efforts to support safe and responsible unconventional domestic natural gas development.

Obama seems to be talking about hydraulic fracking which blasts water, sand and chemicals into the earth in order to stimulate the release of natural gas. Fracking has directly caused environmental disasters such as pollution, health problems and even earthquakes.

Jack Gerard of the American Petroleum Institute has praised Obama for “[recognizing] the need to coordinate the efforts of the federal agencies that are reviewing, studying or proposing new regulations.”

The E.O. establishes the “Interagency Working Group” comprised of deputy level or higher representatives from federal agencies that include the Defense Department, Transportation, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Energy, Homeland Security, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These agencies will work in tandem to supposedly promote safe and responsible development efficiency while maintaining control over the domestic natural gas resources within the US.

 The Hill recently reported:

The Obama administration is taking new steps to increase federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling method that has helped usher in a natural-gas boom but brought with it environmental concerns.

The Environmental Protection Agency is slated to unveil final oil-and-gas air pollution regulations next week that would cut smog-forming and toxic emissions from wells developed with fracking. Separately, the Interior Department will soon float rules for fracking on public lands.

Congressman John Boehner says, “We don’t need . . . any more bureaucracy”, disagreeing with the working group and says that there need not be further expansion of federal governmental agencies into the business of areas reserved for State regulatory agencies.

Obama has now, as a good Dictators do, claimed more centralization of power over our lives under the guise of curtailing the unsafe practices and environmentally dangerous use of hydraulic fracking.

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