Full Text of HR0739 102nd General Assembly
HR0739 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The oil and natural gas industry is a vital part | 3 | | of the United States' economy, and increasing domestic energy | 4 | | production and reducing dependence on foreign supplies are in | 5 | | the best interest of our nation's strategic and economic | 6 | | well-being; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, High oil and gas prices, our growing reliance on | 8 | | imported oil, and price volatility clearly demonstrate the | 9 | | imperative to change course and expand domestic oil and gas | 10 | | production; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Expanding domestic production will reduce our | 12 | | dependence on foreign oil and natural gas and significantly | 13 | | reduce the billions of dollars we send abroad each year; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, As our reliance on oil and natural gas will | 15 | | necessarily continue for the foreseeable future, we can no | 16 | | longer rule out the value of our own significant proven oil and | 17 | | gas reserves nor the value of a future significant discovery | 18 | | anywhere in or off the shores of the United States; taking | 19 | | advantage of our own resources will create new investment and | 20 | | new jobs here at home; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is an area of |
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| 1 | | some 1.76 billion acres submerged off the United States' | 2 | | coasts that is controlled by the federal government; | 3 | | approximately 97% of the OCS is under federal moratoria | 4 | | preventing any exploration or production of oil and natural | 5 | | gas; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) | 7 | | estimates that the OCS contains 86 billion barrels of oil and | 8 | | 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas; because exploration is | 9 | | prohibited on the vast majority of the OCS, these estimates | 10 | | are primarily based on survey projections and are likely quite | 11 | | conservative; additionally, approximately 83% of federal lands | 12 | | onshore, containing some 28 billion barrels of oil and 207 | 13 | | trillion cubic feet of natural gas, are under moratoria or | 14 | | severely restricted; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In the 26 years since the OCS moratoria were put | 16 | | into place, the technology utilized to extract oil and gas has | 17 | | evolved, significantly reducing the environmental impact of | 18 | | producing the resources; advanced multidimensional seismic | 19 | | imaging allows a much higher degree of accuracy in locating | 20 | | oil and gas deposits, which reduces the amount of drilling | 21 | | necessary while increasing the amount of resources recovered; | 22 | | pressure gauges and safety valves incorporated into offshore | 23 | | production facilities diminish the possibility of spills; | 24 | | these technologies have reduced the spillage rate to just |
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| 1 | | 0.001%; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. has significant reserves of liquid fuels | 3 | | derived from coal, oil sands, and oil shale as well as expanded | 4 | | infrastructure to enable greater access to these resources | 5 | | located throughout North America; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, According to the Department of Energy, the United | 7 | | States has recoverable reserves of coal equivalent in energy | 8 | | value to nearly six trillion barrels of oil, oil shale | 9 | | amounting to more than two trillion barrels of oil, and heavy | 10 | | oil and oil sands equal to another 154 billion barrels of oil, | 11 | | some portion of which can be converted to liquid fuels such as | 12 | | gasoline and diesel; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Unfortunately, much like the moratoria on energy | 14 | | development on the OCS, there is also a legal prohibition | 15 | | against the federal government leasing much of this land for | 16 | | exploration for oil shale; keeping these lands off limits is | 17 | | stunting the investments necessary to improve the technology | 18 | | to extract these valuable resources in an environmentally | 19 | | responsible manner; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, If the United States could embark on new domestic | 21 | | oil and gas exploration efforts and invest in building its | 22 | | domestic energy infrastructure, it would not only help with |
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| 1 | | the energy transition here at home, it would also help keep | 2 | | costs down for American families, strengthen our economy, | 3 | | create jobs, and make American energy secure; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 | | we strongly urge the President of the United States to develop | 7 | | and implement new sound domestic energy exploration and | 8 | | production policies to strengthen U.S. energy security and | 9 | | ensure that the United States can provide its people with | 10 | | stable, affordable, and reliable energy prices; and be it | 11 | | further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. to undertake a sustained | 13 | | and enduring federal research and development effort, in | 14 | | partnership with private industry, universities, and national | 15 | | laboratories to evaluate technologies and practices to | 16 | | minimize the impact of the development of these underutilized | 17 | | fuels on the land and water resources of the United States, | 18 | | while also evaluating technologies and practices to reduce the | 19 | | energy intensity and carbon footprint of these fuel sources; | 20 | | and be it further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 22 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the United | 23 | | States Secretary of the Interior, the United States Secretary |
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| 1 | | of Transportation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, | 2 | | and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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