Ways to help you get it done. So again, thats so important. Not only for Rural America which we are concerned about but also we are also very, very concerned about urban america, the whole thing. We appreciate you being here. If there are no further questions other thing before i go on, i want to thank you but i also want to thank your staffs. I know you worked really hard in getting you all prepared. Chairman wheeler you want to thank your staffs, sir. Senator boozman exactly. Our staffs have also. We do appreciate them. If there are no further questions, the hearing record will remain opened until next tuesday, may 19, at noon for subcommittee members to submit any statements or questions to the witnesses for the record. Subcommittee hearing is hereby adjourned. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [indiscernible] next a discussion on u. S. Oil and gas drilling in the arctic. Then a summit on u. S. Health care and benefits. Then lighted;, washington journal. On newsmakers senator mike lee. He talks about the patriot act and the usa freedom act, and other topics including the freedom bill. This weekend, the cspan cities to her tour in fort lauderdale, florida. When they set up their villages along the way, the buses would stop. This was a tourist attraction. So when they came to the tourist attraction they were getting food, a weekly allotment of food and sometimes the rental of sewing machines. They also sometimes would get fabric. It behooved the tourist attraction people to supply them with fabric so they were sitting and making things for crafts market. This was a little boys shirt from the 1920s. This was an experimental time for patchwork. On the bottom you can see this is not a design that made it down today. This is an experimental design. Sometimes they werent used any longer than that particular decade. The thing about the devils triangle and bermuda triangle, there are all kinds of things that have happened. Flight 19 was a regular training mission. They would take off from the base and flight 19s would go east out of the bahamas. They would drop bombs and continue on another 70 miles or so and then they would make a turn north and go 100 something miles and make a turn back toward fort lauderdale. They never came back. Later in the night after they were sure they were out of fuel they sent out big rescue planes and then one of them disappeared. Then they started a fiveday search with hundreds of planes and ships and never found anything. Watch all of our events on cspan3. Now a discussion on u. S. Companies drilling for gas and oil in the arctic. This is just over 30 minutes. Clarks washington journal continues washington journal continues. Host joining me now is amy harder of the wall street journal, talking about the decision to drill. What a special when it comes to this oil . Guest there is no current oil except on one manmade island. There is really been no drilling here for decades, almost. It is a remote cold, frigid part of the arctic ocean obviously. There is a small window that companies can even drill here. It is a remote area and it has people concerned about the safety. Guest as far as the area, what is the potential for oil and gas . Guest the interior Department Says there are about 22 billion gallons of oil in their and about 92 trillion cubic feet of gas. By comparison, we produce about 9 billion gallons of oil a day. There is a decent amount, but that said, the arctic has taken a backseat in the last 6, 7 years come because of the onshore gas boom in texas and north dakota, which has gotten peoples Administration Attention including administration. Host in light of that, the imagination of the decision. What did they decide . Guest they decided they gave shell approval to drill here. This was a lease approved during the Bush Administration. This is a lot of people say this is a huge green light from the Obama Administration, but really it is an extension of a policy the Bush Administration put in. It is conditional approval for them to drill exploratory wells not actually produce the oil and the gas. If they want to do that, they have to get another permit and there is a lengthy review process that the government says could be at least 15 years before we see any oil from this area. Host shell gets the authority to do this, the Obama Administration allows them to carry on what was going on in the Bush Administration, and what is the next up forward . Guest the Company Still need about seven permits from the government before it can go ahead. They are mostly technical somewhat minor compared to additional approval by the administration. They expect to get those in the next few weeks. They want to start drilling sometime between july and october. It is a very short window. They are very confident they will find oil and if they do they will do a couple more seasons of exploring the area and eventually apply for a permit to produce. The response from the Environmental Community has been incredibly critical because some of them think there should be no drilling because the Obama Administration has been so committed to Climate Change their they do not think it matches up with their commitment to reducing president obama addressed those concerns this week, he said, in one breath, that they approved because they met with federal standards and requirements, but said that we need to move off of fossil fuels eventually, but there will be a transition time. Host amy harder talking about new drilling in the arctic sea off of alaska, you may have questions about that and how it might impact environment of policy. Democrats, 2027488000. Republicans, 2027488001. Independence, 2027488002. We have president obama getting environment lists concerns, listen to what he had to say. President obama i know a Little Something about the risks of offshore drilling, given what happened in the gulf early in my presidency. Nobody is more mindful of the risks involved and the dangers. That is why, despite the fact that shall have put in an application for exploration in this region several years ago we delayed it for a lengthy time until they could provide us with the kinds of assurances we have not seen before, taking into account the short very the extraordinary challenges if there was a leak that far north. And that kind of environment. Which would be much more difficult to deal with than in the gulf. Based on those high standards shall had to go back to the drawing board revamp its approach and the experts have concluded that they have met those standards. Host could you expand on those comments . Guest shell had been pursuing Arctic Drilling since 2007 and the last time it drilled was in 2012 and has significant missteps. After they successfully drilled, but only a small portion they did not have the approval to go all the way down to where the oil is, i once they got done drilling, andy ship was moving back to seattle, they lost control of it and it was floating in the ocean and run aground. That had environmental people concerned. That is one reason that led to delays. Also in february demonstration set regulations that will not apply to show, but are based upon the agreement that the government and shall made following those missteps. Host interested that he defended himself as to what he did as far as the gulf crisis. Guest the oil spill in 2010 is still the largest u. S. Oil spill ever and that was something he had to deal with shortly after he became president. A month before the fourth he was built, before the oil spill he made an announcement of how he would open the Atlantic Coast to drawing and he had to receipt on that. Demonstration has have the administration has had active board on drilling policy and it has made environment lists frustrated. Host the ap had pictures of environmentalists trying to stop this. Host they are called kayak to thats kayaktavists. The mayor of seattle has gone in on it, protesting the fact that they should not be able to have the rig there. Seattle and Washington State is a liberal state, and a Renewable Green Energy minded state, the governor is one of the it is an interesting comparison to see how theyre reacting, despite that protest, i do not think that can stop shell. Host how does he get into alaska . Guest they have tugboats and a Fleet Equipment and rigs that move up to the arctic. That is something the company did not focus on as much in 2012, something that they have learned that is as important as the drilling is to get to and from. Host what is the congressional reaction to this decision . Senator murkowski, on the Energy Committee from alaska . Host muted, the main people that reacted was senator murkowski, who is not quite sure , does not want to pop out the champagne, not sure demonstration will let this happen the ministries and will let this happen. Senator markey out of massachusetts has been vocal against drilling including alaska and along the eastern seaboard. He was critical. With Arctic Drilling, it is a political issue and something that incites passion and if it is not in lawmakers backyard, they do not care as much. You see images of alaska pristine, home repairs, the Arctic National wildlife refuge. I think it should be noted that despite this conditional approval obama has taken several steps in the last few months to restrict oil and gas drilling in and around alaska. He cut off 13 million acres of National Wildlife refuge, and parts of the beaufort sea. Add late last year, he stop developing. He has taken whats that forward and one step back in alaska which has infuriated people like senator murkowski. There has been a mixed bag for alaska. Host you spoke with senator markey and this is what he said. Because of the increasing domestic production, it does not make sense to expand oil drilling into risky areas like the arctic ocean or off the east coast. I rang concerned that the shell has still not learned the lessons of their previous mistakes drilling offshore in the arctic. Guest one change they made was containment dome system, so they could be prepared in case of a spill. In mexico, you have rigs all over and you have a ring on hand when a spill happens to drill a relief well and stem the spent the spell. Where there are no other ranks the Company Needs to have two sidebyside in case of a spill. That is a significant cost. Something you do not need to do in the gulf. That is one thing they will have to do that was not required before. Host amy harder who covers energy from the desk for the wall street journal. From kansas, randy on a republican line, good morning. Caller ok, i am glad you are on the show. My question is, barrel prices showed between 45 and 60 a barrel, last time i saw that prices in the 1990s and gasoline was one dollar to five cents or less. 1. 25 or less and now it is high. With the barrel price that low and with increased productions coming up, why are gasoline prices high . Guest it is relative, they are higher than they were in the 1990s as our almost every single commodity you can see. They have dropped by about one dollar since last summer last year, so that is an important point that they are high historically speaking, but relatively, they are much lower something that has got people wondering why we need to be drilling for more oil when gas prices are relatively lower than they have been. The answer to that that shell says is that they know the demand will be increasing around the world for oil and they see a longterm reason for that. Any impact on domestic gasoline prices we could see from this shell drilling in the arctic there are so many other factors that go into domestic gasoline prices driven by a Global Market opec, drilling in north dakota and texas have been important to the Global Market and therefore domestic prices. There there is a couple to read connection between a couple degree connection between drilling and gasoline prices. Host independent line, portland, oregon. Caller i am concerned about the destabilization of the methane hydrates, there is estimated to be 1000 gigatons of methane in the arctic oceans and the deeper parts. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, estimated to be 1000 times more effective before it degrades than carbon dioxide. Very small amount of methane is much more powerful for the Global Warming than carbon dioxide. Reassure boba a scientist has been observing it and it is bubbling up. In the arctic come up underneath the frozen floor, there are gas bubbles, the hydrates are honeycombed with methane and there are pools of methane underneath the ice, and if that is broken, we could be looking at a rapid warming of the earth that would lead to our extension. What safeguards are in place to make sure that none of this activity in the arctic will disturb this . Guest Climate Change is a big concern, especially in the arctic with the alaska region generally has been ground zero for the impact of Climate Change. I think shell, the drilling here is a very Shallow Water compared to the bp oil spill, it was miles of the under the arson deep under the ocean. They are not an imminent concern in this situation. Methane hydrates are a big concern for the climate. Host shreveport louisiana, go ahead. Caller i talked about this before, Climate Change is a hoax. I think we should drill everywhere we can drill because we need Oil Production. All these Climate Change nuts are just running around talking about methane gas, that does not do anything to the atmosphere at all. We have about 100,000 wells and is still would not do anything. I know the oil and gas business because i used to work offshore. We need more oil and Gas Production and obama is doing nothing but blocking production and it is all by design. It is all a hoax and i do not believe in Climate Change that can tell me to do things and there is not Climate Change. And there never will be. It is destroying this country, bringing we need energy that does not replace oil and gas. Guest i think Climate Change is one of the Big Decisions why environmental people are opposed to drilling in the arctic, in addition to the specific concerns about an oil spill. One aspect factor going into the approval of drilling in the arctic is that the arctic ocean is not just the u. S. Ocean russia has portions of the arctic. It is a strategic decision to let u. S. Companies get approval from the u. S. Government to drill in the arctic. That is one unique factor that is evident here, when it is not in the gulf of mexico or in the light the coast, that is something the olympic coast. In addition to any concerns about meeting the goal to get off the field and switch to renewables host . Are some of these decisions influenced by the fact that we are producing so much oil and natural gas . Guest this demonstration nobody saw the boom six or seven years ago. The u. S. Is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. That is something that has changed over the last 7, 8 years, and got them more familiar with the industry than they thought they would have to be. That is enabled administration to understand how the industry works and not allow quite as much drilling offshore than they would have, otherwise. We are becoming less dependent on foreign oil because of the onshore resources. It is happening largely on private lands. Host burlington, massachusetts go ahead. Caller the anti the treaties signed by dignitaries never to touch anything in the antarctic the polls what about the oil belt is spill valdez spill. Host what is your question . Caller it is a statement about the antarctic treaty, i believe it was 1987. Host thanks. Guest the exxon valdez spill is about the difficulties responding to a spill, some areas of the arctic and was one of the reasons why the environmentalist do not think it is a smart thing to do. The safeguards have gotten stricter since then peered that is something on the minds of the administration and the oil spill is an example of the dangers. Having that additional rick on hand is one way they can ensure a spill can be addressed quickly. Rig. Another concern is that it is a very remote area, the closest coast guard is 1000 miles away. That is something you cannot solve. That is a concern. In addition to the broader kind of change concern. Host justin, california, go ahead. Caller if i understand this shell oil is applying to the federal government for a lease to drill oil on public, federal land, is this correct . Guest correct they are ready have the lease. Already have the least. Caller can obama take an aggressive stance toward shell oil that this oil, being taken from our public land benefit the public somehow . 10 a tax this oil and put the money that shell profits from to benefit the poor people or the country from the oil they are taking from our land . Host let me add this tweet to the mix. How much is the usa receiving for oil leases . Guest i do not have that number, but it is a common concern about drilling on public lands and public waters that there needs to be returns for the u. S. Taxpayer. It is something administration has been looking at lately to create a high return for these leases. Shell spent about 2. 1 billion to buy this lease, money to the federal government several years ago. That has ari been paid. They covet that has already been paid. As far as a direct return to the taxpayer, is difficult to draw a Straight Line from one oil well to you at the gas pump, but i think oil as a global commodity it is hard to do that. The