Hinchey slams energy companies

Accuses oil companies of

‘wanting to be in control’

By FRITZ MAYER

fritzmayer@riverreporter.com

MONTICELLO, NY — As the presidential candidates spar over energy policy and what to do about the cost of gas and heating oil nationally, U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey weighed in on the debate locally. Saying, “The American public is suffering greatly from the Bush-Cheney marriage to the oil industry,” Hinchey spoke to the Sullivan County Energy Commission on August 6.

Hinchey addressed the call from energy companies for additional offshore drilling opportunities. He said that the energy companies already have leases to drill for oil or gas on 80 percent of federal lands and that the companies aren’t drilling on the 68 million acres already available to them. He said they want leases on the additional 20 percent of land and tell Congress to “give us everything, so we can be in control.”

He repeated a claim made by many, who oppose opening more federal lands to offshore drilling, that new offshore activity would not bring new oil onto the market for at least 10 years.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that offshore drilling could lead to new supplies in as few as two years, but a study by the U.S. Department of Energy refutes that claim.

When asked why the oil companies would not drill on land where known reserves are available and where they already have leases, Hinchey said he could only speculate that by limiting drilling, the companies will drive up the cost of oil, which will lead to greater profits. He presented eight graphs and charts, prepared with information from government agencies, to back up his claims.

Hinchey also pointed to a series of measures passed by the House of Representatives intended to address the high costs of oil and gas, some of which President Bush has vetoed or threatened to veto.

Turning to solutions that could help get the country through the energy crisis, Hinchey said that Congress should take a cue from T. Boone Pickens, the oil billionaire who recently announced that he is no longer investing in oil and is, instead, investing heavily in wind energy.

Hinchey also said that if America developed a renewable-energy program, which was as ambitious and focused as President John F. Kennedy’s program to send a man to the moon in the ’60s, the country could be free of its dependence on foreign oil in as little as 10 years.

Hinchey helped create The Solar Energy Consortium, a not-for-profit New York-based organization dedicated to increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic energy systems while simultaneously bringing down their cost.