AEA to Salazar: Keep Your Word

Letter Challenges Salazar to Recognize Environmental Safety Technology Advances

WASHINTON,DC—After Interior secretary Ken Salazar said that he “would considertapping oil” along a small portion of Alaska’s Coastal Plain, theAmerican Energy Alliance (AEA) wrotethe Secretary to applaud his comments and update him about the widely-used andproven-safe technology advances energy producers have made in directionaldrilling in recent years.

AEApresident Thomas J. Pyle, the author of the letter, released the followingstatement:

“It’sbeen nearly 10 years since the Clinton administration’s Energy Departmentsuggested that ‘new methods and technology’ allowed American energyproducers to safely develop resources ‘far beneath sensitiveenvironments’ and generate ‘less surface disturbance.’ Adecade later, advances in new technology have helped those same producers gofarther below those sensitive environments than ever before and capture energymiles removed from the wellsite, in most cases without displacing a singlepebble.

“SecretarySalazar’s comments reflect that reality and werehopefully made as a good-faith attempt to spur a debate that’s informedby facts and firsthand account, not hype and hyperbole. This letter is oureffort to engage the secretary in that important process and provide him withthe information he needs to make the right decision for our nation’senergy and economic future.”

NOTE:Associated Press reported Tuesday thatSecretary Salazar said he’d be open to “tapping oil from Alaska’sArctic National Wildlife Refuge … if it can be shown that the refuge’swildlife and environment will remain undisturbed.” Sen. John McCain(R-Ariz.) today suggested during a hearing of the Senate Energy and NaturalResources Committeethat “if the technology is there … then we should certainly pursueit.”

Morefrom AEA on domestic energy policy:

· Study:Economic Contribution ofIncreased Offshore Exploration and Production

· BlogPosting: Obama Budget: Commitment toIncreased Energy Costs

· PressRelease: ManufacturedMyths No Substitute for Real Energy Policy

TheAmerican Energy Alliance (AEA) is a not-for-profit organization that engages inpublic policy advocacy and debate surrounding the function, operation, andgovernment regulation of global energy markets.  AEA, an independent affiliate of the Institute forEnergy Research, works to educate and mobilize citizens around the idea thatfreely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effectivesolutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges.

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www.americanenergyalliance.org