Oil Drilling
The Charge
John Gard’s TV ads claim Congressman Steve Kagen has voted eight times to ban oil production in America.
The Facts
Congressman Steve Kagen has not voted to ban oil drilling in America. In fact, Kagen voted to expand the areas in the U.S. open for oil and gas drilling and exploration.
[HR 6251, Roll Call 469, 6/26/08 HR 6515, Roll Call 511, 7/17/08, HR 6074]
Kagen wrote and passed bipartisan legislation to invest in American energy and hold oil sheiks and Wall Street speculators accountable for price gouging.
[HR 6899 Roll Call 599, HR 2264 Roll Call 398 5/22/08]
Right now, the offshore waters of the United States are open for drilling.
Background
In the last session of Congress, Republicans offered procedural motions about oil drilling. These motions came up for votes when Congress was considering bills that provide funding for scientific research, National Parks, and other programs. The motions were written in a way that would have killed those bills if they had passed. Kagen voted against these politically-motivated, but legislatively meaningless, procedural motions.
In addition to these motions, John Gard has said Kagen voted for an amendment that would prohibit oil shale development on federal lands.
[Roll Call 577, 6/27/07]
In fact, this amendment upholds existing state laws in Colorado to protect ranchers and homeowners from having their private property unfairly seized under “eminent domain” claims.
Oil shale development continues to go forward. It is an experimental technology at this time. Oil companies hope that it will make economic sense someday, and they are doing experimental trial projects in Colorado right now.
