House Republicans on Friday criticized an Obama administration study of hydraulic fracturing as unnecessary and plagued by delays and excessive costs.
"We all want to ensure safe and responsible production of oil and natural gas, but the combination of the administration's track record on fracking and the delays associated with developing these plans provide cause for concern," said Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, during a House subcommittee hearing on fracking research.
Smith, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and other Republicans on Friday painted the administration's study of shale gas and oil drilling as wasteful, misguided and, potentially, economically harmful.
"Shale gas is the solution, it's not the problem," said Representative Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican.
In April 2012, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that created a new interagency working group coordinating oversight of natural gas production among nine separate federal agencies and four White House offices, including the Council on Environmental Quality. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior and Energy departments signed an agreement to study the environmental impacts of shale oil and gas production.
This study goes beyond EPA's ongoing study of the impact of fracking on drinking water and looks at the effects of shale drilling on air quality, human health, ecosystems as well as water, according to Kevin Teichman, a senior science adviser with EPA's office of research and development.
EPA, DOE and Interior will spend a combined $24.7 million on this effort in fiscal 2013, agency officials testified Friday. Obama has requested $38.6 million for fiscal 2014 for these agencies for this effort.
While Teichman said Friday the study by the three agencies "is still under development," Representative Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and chairwoman of the science committee's energy subcommittee, questioned why Congress should fund an effort that has been delayed and conducted in near secret. A final version of the plan was due to be released in January, but a draft has yet to be unveiled.
"Before Congress redirects tens of millions of dollars for this research effort, the administration must tell us what it wants to spend this money on," Lummis said. "Bringing sunlight to these activities is especially important given the administration's embarrassing track record of unsubstantiated allegations when it comes to hydraulic fracturing."
But Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, said that while fracking has been an economic boon, its impacts on everything from drinking water to earthquakes needed additional study.
"I believe that when it comes to fracking we have to proceed with extreme caution," Swalwell said.
