Press Releases
Markey to Boehner: Bring Oil Price Relief Bills to a Vote
WASHINGTON (April 27, 2011) - Responding to increasing gas prices, and reports that Republicans will bring bills to the floor next week that won't help consumers in the short-term at the pump, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today called on Speaker John Boehner to bring a legislative package to a House vote next week that would decrease prices in the short term, increase drilling safety, and end oil company tax breaks and practices that hold hostage American oil underneath taxpayer owned lands. … Continue Reading
04.25.11
Markey: It's Agreed - Time to End 100 Year-Old Tax Breaks For Big Oil
Washington D.C. (April 26, 2011) -- After proposing a 2012 budget that maintains $96 billion in tax subsidies and royalty-free drilling for oil and gas companies while cutting investments in alternative energy technology development by 90 percent, House Republican leadership did an about-face and today stated that oil companies need to start paying their fair share, including suggesting an end to an almost century-old tax break called the depletion allowance. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the… Continue Reading
04.20.11
Markey: BP's $1 Billion Gulf Restoration Fund a Down Payment, But They Can't Skip Out on the Full Spill Bill
BP Still Litigating Responsibility, Fines, Which Could Decrease Further Funding WASHINGTON (April 21, 2011) -- Today, the Obama administration announced the release of $1 billion by BP for restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico identified under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. Yet even as the oil giant is doling out this down payment to help restore the Gulf of Mexico following last year's spill, it is litigating the size of the spill and the fines they should pay, pot… Continue Reading
04.18.11
Markey Statement on BP Spill Anniversary: A Spill Could Happen Again
WASHINGTON (April 19, 2011) - 364 days ago, the American public, government regulators and Gulf of Mexico families had been lulled into a false sense of security over the safety of offshore drilling and the ability of the oil industry to respond in the event of a severe spill. After years of systemic complacency and mismanagement by the U.S. government and the oil companies, weeks of poor decision-making on the part of BP and its partners in the ill-fated Macondo oil well, and a few moments of d… Continue Reading
04.12.11
Markey: One Week Before Anniversary of BP Spill, Republican "Oil Above All" Plan Represents a Pre-Spill Mentality
WASHINGTON (April 13, 2011) - During the markup of the House Republican "Oil Above All" bills today in the Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement: "Fifty one weeks ago today, the BP Deepwater Horizon exploded. Eleven men lost their lives. Two days later, the rig sank, and during the next three months more than 4 million barrels of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico. "One year ago, most Americans had no idea what a blowout preventer was. We h… Continue Reading
04.11.11
Markey: Republican Spending Plan Kills Wolves Instead of Cutting Pork
Rider to Delist Wolves as Endangered, Welfare for Nuclear Power Included in Misguided Spending Bill WASHINGTON (April 12, 2011) - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, today outlined the objectionable energy and environment policies in the yearly spending plan after details were released late last night. The plan continues corporate welfare programs for nuclear power, which hasn’t provided significant new energy for decades, while making severe cu… Continue Reading
04.11.11
Markey, House Dems Push Obama on Strategic Petroleum Reserve
As Prices Rise, Deploying SPR Can Reduce Prices; Dems Show Broadening Support for Action WASHINGTON (April 12, 2011) - With gas prices approaching the all-time high per gallon in the United States, House Democrats are stepping up their efforts to deploy a small fraction of the nation’s oil reserves to tamp down speculation and reduce prices for American families and small businesses. Today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is leading an effort with Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-C… Continue Reading
04.06.11
Markey Statement on Republican Rejection of Markey Amendment to Dirty Air Act
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2011) - House Republicans today rejected an amendment authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) that would preserve EPA's ability to increase the efficiency of cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships, thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The amendment was made to the Upton Dirty Air Act that would overturn the scientific finding that dangerous carbon pollution is harming the planet and our people and would increase foreign oil imports. Following several failed v… Continue Reading
04.06.11
Markey: Republicans Vote for OPEC Wealth, Against American Public Health
WASHINGTON (April 7, 2011) - Last night, House Republicans voted down an amendment to the Upton Dirty Air Act that would have preserved EPA's ability to reduce American oil dependence. Today, House Republicans voted against a measure that would strip EPA of its ability to reduce dangerous carbon pollution. These votes stand as a testament to the Republican priorities of fealty to oil and coal company interests instead of their duty to protect American citizens, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asser… Continue Reading
04.05.11
Markey: House Republican Shutdown Would Close Parks, Threaten Oil Rig Safety
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2011) - Due to the potential House Republicans’ forced government shutdown, for the first time since early 1996, America’s national parks and Smithsonian museums may shutter this weekend, canceling plans for countless American families. Hundreds of oil rig inspectors could be sent home, threatening the safety of workers. And any permitting of new resource development would stop, turning a Republican-created moratorium myth into reality. These are just a few of the impacts t… Continue Reading
04.04.11
Democrats Introduce Bill to Close Free Drilling Loophole in Gulf of Mexico
WASHINGTON (April 5, 2011) - Several leading Democrats today introduced legislation that would close a loophole that allows dozens of oil companies to drill for free in the Gulf of Mexico. This loophole will cost American taxpayers $1.5 billion this year, and up to $53 billion over the next couple decades - the legislation today would instead take this lost revenue and direct it to the U.S. Treasury to help reduce the deficit. Similar legislative language was offered as an amendment to the first… Continue Reading
04.04.11
Markey, Napolitano, Garamendi to EPA: Salmon Aren't Pests
WASHINGTON (April 5, 2011) - Three years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was given information by our nation's federal fish experts to protect endangered salmon from harmful pesticides, the agency has yet to take action to protect more than 20 species of salmon. Because of this inaction, today Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Water and Power Subcommittee, and John Garamend… Continue Reading
04.04.11
Markey: GOP Budget Takes Energy Out of Department of Energy
WASHINGTON (April 5, 2011) - Under the 2012 budget proposal offered today by House Republicans, the energy and environment programs in the Department of Energy would be cut by 91 percent, while preserving tax breaks for oil companies. The Republican budget proposal would cut funding for energy and environment programs at the Department of Energy from $11 billion in 2011 down to $1 billion--of which about $700 million would have to be used for environmental programs, leaving only about $300 mill… Continue Reading
03.31.11
Reps. Markey, Johnson dig in on RARE Earth elements crucial to clean-energy, defense manufacturing
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 31, 2011) - Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduced the Resource Assessment of Rare Earths (RARE) Act of 2011, which directs the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a three-year, comprehensive global mineral assessment of rare earth elements (REEs). Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee, is the lead original cosponsor of the bill. Critical to high-tech clean-energy and defense m… Continue Reading
03.29.11
Markey Statement on Obama Energy Speech
WASHINGTON (March 30, 2011) - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama's speech on energy policy. Rep. Markey is the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and authored the House fuel economy legislation in 2007, co-authored the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill in 2009, and is author of the USE IT legislation of this year that would compel oil and gas companies to use the leases they already own: "Presiden… Continue Reading
03.28.11
Markey: New Interior Dept. Report on Unused Oil Leases Makes Case for "USE IT" Legislation
Report requested by President Obama shows oil industry is leaving leases fallow even while requesting more public land to drill. WASHINGTON (March 29, 2011) - A new report requested by President Obama and released by the Interior Department today shows that oil and gas companies are leaving millions of acres of public land and water unused, even as they claim they don't have enough to drill. The report makes the case for legislation already introduced by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rush Holt … Continue Reading
03.28.11
Markey Statement on "Oil Above All" Drilling Bills
WASHINGTON (March 29, 2011) - Responding to bills proposed today by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and other Republicans, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, issued the following statement: "The Republicans claim they are for 'all of the above,' but when they release their drilling-only bills, it's clear they are just for 'oil above all.' "Following the worst oil spill in U.S. history, House Republicans aren't just doubling down on drilling, they are bet… Continue Reading
03.27.11
Markey Queries Interior Dept. on Blowout Preventers, Outdated Spill Response Plans
WASHINGTON (March 28, 2011) - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, today asked the Department of Interior to explain how it intends to address the recent finding that design faults in blowout preventers could cause widespread failure by the devices should a blowout occur. Rep. Markey also asked about the spill response plans for the six deepwater permits granted by the drilling agency, after the plan for the first drilling permit was reported by p… Continue Reading
03.27.11
Markey Joins Leading Nuclear Physicist, Children's Health Advocates Calling for 20-Mile Distribution of Potassium Iodide Near Nuclear Reactors in America
Bush, Obama Administrations Both Ignored 2002 Markey Law WASHINGTON (March 28, 2011) - On this day in 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident began, highlighting the need to keep American families prepared for nuclear emergencies. The ongoing Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan now brings new urgency to implement a law passed in 2002, but ignored by two presidential administrations, to distribute radiation emergency pills to people living within 20 miles of a reactor here in the United Sta… Continue Reading
03.23.11
Markey Statement on NRC IG Report
WASHINGTON (March 24, 2011) - Responding to a report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Inspector General's office stating that at least 24 defects in components of nuclear reactors that could cause a substantial safety hazard, as well as 11 additional defective components went unreported, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee issued the following statement: "This troubling study by the … Continue Reading