Senate EPW Committee Majority Staff Release Hydraulic Fracturing Oversight Timeline

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today released a comprehensive timeline of the Senate EPW’s oversight efforts on hydraulic fracturing conducted by Inhofe, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), and EPW Republicans dating back to 2009. In the preview of the timeline, Inhofe says:

“This short compilation highlights oversight efforts of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holding the Environmental Protection Agency accountable for its work and public statements concerning hydraulic fracturing.  The combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has led to the revolution of shale gas and oil in the United States, causing the United States now to be the world’s largest producer of natural gas and oil.  This revolution sets the United States toward real energy independence within the next five to 15 years according to the Energy Information Administration, and this combination does so with less of a foot print on our environment than former conventional drilling techniques. The oil and natural gas industry has been a principal foundation for economic recovery creating jobs, investments in our communities, and national energy security despite the Obama administration’s best efforts to thwart their progress.  All of these tremendous benefits have come as study after study from government agencies and academia – including the Clinton and Obama Environmental Protection Agencies – have shown that hydraulic fracturing is safe and when done responsibly poses minimal if any threat to our environment.  Continued efforts to confuse the public about hydraulic fracturing and its decades old track record of safety by radical environmental activists, and most recently even EPA’s own Science Advisory Board, are directly contradicted by this overwhelming preponderance of evidence, motivated by politics rather than science, and should be ignored.  The Senate EPW Committee will continue to hold this administration accountable through continued oversight and do our part to continue the American energy revolution.”

To view the entire report, click here.

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