Jeff Denham (center), chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of Transportation and Infrastructure, hears testimony from energy industry leaders on their recommendations for future infrastructure initiatives. Photo by Madeline Fox/MNS
WASHINGTON – The U.S. needs more pipelines, railroads and other infrastructure to support the growth in domestic oil and natural gas production, transportation and energy industry leaders told a House infrastructure subcommittee Tuesday.
The hearing, which focused on the safe transportation of crude and refined oil and natural gas, comes on the tail of President Barack Obama’s budget proposal, which included a massive overhaul in transportation funding to tax foreign profits of U.S. companies to pay for major highway and bridge construction.
Of particular concern for the witnesses, all of whom represented interests in the oil and natural gas industry, was the president’s plan to allocate billions of dollars to climate change and renewable energy technologies, repealing nearly $50 billion in tax breaks from the oil, coal and natural gas industries.
Jack Gerard of the American Petroleum Institute, an aggressive proponent of “big oil,” advocated that the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials to enact policies that allow for the continued growth of oil and natural gas extraction.
“We should adopt policies that sustain and expand, not pull back, our nation’s drive to energy and security,” he said.
The U.S. has undergone an “unprecedented energy renaissance” according to subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Denham. R-Calif. Domestic energy production topped 88 percent of total U.S. consumption in 2014, and total energy production has risen across the board, from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, with total production jumping from 68,033 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2013 to 71,971 quadrillion Btu in 2014.
The proposed White House budget would provide $5 million for a Department of Transportation effort to make the transport of crude oil by rail safer.
Edward Hamberger of the Association of American Railroads and Andrew Black pf American Oil Pipelines stressed the safety of their methods of oil transportation, touting safety records of over 99 percent of their cargo arriving without incident. Both, however, appealed to the subcommittee to push through legislation allowing them to implement further safeguards.
Also addressed was the 2015 deadline for all freight railroads to implement positive train control, a system of functional requirements for monitoring and controlling train movements that can be used to stop or slow trains automatically
The Association of American Railroads has said that while it is committed to rolling out PTC in its freight trains, the 2015 deadline is not feasible. At the hearing, Hamberger suggested extending the deadline by five years, saying that the committee should focus on making sure it is done right rather than done quickly.
