Regulatory and Legislative Battles over Oil and Gas:The View from Washington, D.C

摘要

In the highly polarized political language of Washington, D.C., the oil and gas industry is either an economic miracle or environmental cataclysm. Liberal representatives and senators have called for carbon taxes, stronger regulation of hydraulic fracturing, and the end of oil- and gas-industry tax preferences. Conservatives oppose the liberal ideas and call for increased access to federal lands, speedier permitting, and state regulation of oil and gas operations. This talk will survey the latest opinions and actions on carbon taxation, hydraulic fracturing regulation, access to federal lands, and oil- and gas-industry taxation. The rhetoric on these issues changes frequently, but the political climate for oil and gas development is more positive than it was several years ago.