In the waning day of the Clinton administration, Chairman FrankMurkowski (R-AK) and four other Republican members of the SenateEnergy and Natural Resources Committee have called on the presidentto refrain from enacting regulations that could put off limits evenmore federal lands for natural gas and oil producers. Such actionwould only aggravate the current gas price and supply crisis, theysaid.

Specifically, Murkowski and the senators are concerned theForest Service will soon try to put into effect regulations thatcould prohibit drilling, mining and forestry on more than 40million acres of “roadless” areas in the National Forest System. Inaddition, there are a number of other regulations pending thataren’t friendly to gas production and transportation, a committeeaide said.

“We ask you to consider the effect of regulatory actions takenduring the closing days of your administration on the safeproduction, transportation and distribution of natural gas toAmerican consumers,” wrote Murkowki and the other committee membersin their Dec. 15 letter to President Clinton. “In light of thepresent natural gas price crisis, we ask that no actions be takenthat would harm natural gas supplies.”

The Clinton administration’s “roadless” policy could have”severe implications” for gas markets, the lawmakers said. “Werespectfully request that your roadless policy clearly allow forthe exploration, development and transportation of clean-burningnatural gas.”

Given the current supply-demand imbalance for gas, Murkowski andthe senators believe it will be critical for the next Congress tocraft policies that will make more gas supplies available to thepublic. Until then, “we ask that you [Clinton] work to make surethe federal government does not harm consumers.”

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