President Obama was playing “fast and loose” when he claimed in his State of the Union (SOTU) address that his administration has been working to speed applications for permits to drill (APD) for energy production on federal lands, said Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

“The natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence…We need to encourage that. That’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speed up new oil and gas permits,” the president said in his second SOTU address (see Daily GPI, Feb. 14).

Hastings took issue with the White House claims. “The facts are stubborn things, and that statement simply is not true. Under President Obama’s leadership, it has taken on average 30% longer, compared to the previous four years years, to approve new drilling permits,” he said.

“The Obama administration is playing fast and loose with the facts by obfuscating the difference between the length of time it takes BLM [Bureau of Land Management] to complete an APD with the total time an APD takes to be approved.”

Hastings contends that the president has passed new burdensome regulations, which has bogged down energy projects in mounds of red tape and paperwork, increasing the average processing time by 76%.

If President Obama wants to see how APDs should be approved, he need look no further than the state of North Dakota, which has increased its oil production by nearly 800% and can approve permits to drill in 10 days rather than 307, said Hastings.

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