captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2008 the president supports an all-out all of the above energy strategy but the department has taken steps to limit american energy production and a couple of examples. in november the department proposed a five-year plan for offshore oil and gas development which excludes both pacific and the atlantic oceans, the plan excludes the development off the coast of virginia, even though both senators, both democrat senators and the governor of virginia, a republican, supported such development. in january, the department with withdrew approximately 1 million acres in northern arizona from uranium production, the department withdrew this land

even though both senators and the governor of arizona opposed the withdrawal, and the department continues to pursue new stream protection regulations which will limit american coal production. the department is taking this step even though members of congress and officials from coal-producing statsz oppose the new regulations. we get to the specific pain at the pump. on friday the front page of "usa today" read "most ever could get hit by $5 gasoline." the president said he's focused on production but the department policies speak otherwise as does the fiscal 2013 budget which includes tens of billions on new taxes and fees on energy. the president can't pursuit an all-out all of the above energy strategy and at the same time block or tax new energy

production. couple of questions, following up specifically with the release the president did last year from the strategic petroleum reserve, has this administration begun any planning to tap the strategic petroleum reserve again this year? >> senator, all options are on the table. >> that is something you're considering tapping. what happened to last year's prices followingt's decision to tap the strategic reserve? >> i would say, senator, all options are on the table and i would disagree as you would expect i would with you, in terms of your characterization of the president's agenda, from day one in the department of interior we have worked to develop our oil and gas resources in a safe and responsible way and we have done so both on the onshore as well as the offshore. we've also moved forward to develop other energy resources including renewable energy and for the first time since three mile island opened up the door

to the possibility of nuclear energy as well. so when the president says an all of the above energy strategy for the united states, he is serious about getting us moving beyond the gridlock that has basically kept this energy program in the united states in a fail iing paradigm for the la 30 years. >> "the washington post" said the release of the 30 barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve "whatever the rationale it's a bad idea," you're going to continue with that bad idea on the table this year is what i just heard. could you explain your assessment is of the purpose of the strategic petroleum reserve? first it was under my colleague secretary chu and the president of the united states. the president is very cognizant of the pain at the pump that people are feeling.

we have an energy strategy and policy we've been working from day one and believe it continues to show new results, moving america to a new energy future and we're committed to that and in terms of dealing with the immediate issue of the high gas prices, all options are on the table. >> are you familiar with senator schumer's insistence that the state department press saudis to increase production yet senator schumer opposes the keystone pipeline that the president refused to grant the pipeline from canada and my question is, do you agree with senator schumer we should be pressing for more middle east capacity rather than north american production such as can be brought in from canada via the keystone pipeline? >> first on the international effort that's obviously something that is a focus of the administration, along with dealing with what we can produce

domestically in the united states. on the keystone issue we remarked the pipeline proposed by transcanada yesterday that will take the segment from curbing to the gulf is a step absolutely in the right direction, that has to be processed and frank ly no judgment was reached, senator, on the keystone excel project because frankly because of actions taken by the congress insufficient time to move forward with the processing of the alternative that is required. >> it's interesting the keystone pipeline was proposed seven years ago. >> sorry, dr. barroso, i was with the governor from nebraska yesterday, there were serious concerns raised by both the republican governor and republican colleagues here in the senate wrapt to that proposed pipeline so the alternative to that pipeline is still to come from transcanada and then it will be evaluated.

we play by the facts, there will be a process and a judgment reached on the facts just as a judgment will be released on the segment from curbing down to the gulf. >> thank you. >> senator shaheen. >> mr. chairman, deputy secretary hayes and miss hayes, we're pleased that you're here today. mr. secretary, you talked about your new role to help develop a tourism strategy for the country, and the importance of protecting our outdoors and and special places being critical to the tourism strategy. as you know, the land and water conservation fund has been one of the federal programs most successful at protecting our special places and wildlife habitats and public recreation. in new hampshire we've got all kinds of examples from the lwcf,

the umbega national wildlife refuge, parts of the appalachian trail in new hampshire have all been proteched through the land and water conservation fund and i was pleased to see additional funding in the proposed budget for that program, and i know that you've said you're committed to getting full funding for lwcf for 2014. could you talk about your plans how we should get to full funding and whether you think there is a dedicated funding stream, an additional dedicated funding stream that we can add to what's been proposed by congress but has never, only funded fully twice since the program started. >> senator shaheen sthau for your leeredership on this issue and i thank the chairman of the committee, senator bingham and others worked hard to get full funding on the land and water conservation fund. i agree with you t is part of

our tourism and job creation strategy that comes through we see through l.l. bean and so many other wonderful stores that have a presence in your state, the hunting community, the angling community, boaters, it's a big part of the future of these united states. as i said on that side and this side, the reality is it's been a broken promise to america. 1960s it was authorized take a portion of the proceeds that come from offshore oil and gas production, and yet if you look at the books of the treasury, it is now north of $17 billion that are owed to the conservation programs of this country. even in these tough fiscal times it's important for us to e possibility of that funding. it pains me, frankly, when i look at the list of land and water conservation projects, which we are not able to fund.

senator barroso just left but we're looking into the grand teton national park and every one of your states there are huge needs and the needs probably in the $5 billion range for the foreseeable future and so from my point of view the 465 or 450 million set forth in the 2013 budget is a fraction of what is needed but it s as i said at the outset, this is a very tough budget, and it's a very painful budget for me personally but if we could find way ways, i'll note senator alexander in the passage of the gomisa act were able to set aside a permanent conservation royalty and maybe there's more that can be done. >> thank you.

with the spill in the gulf to address the reform act of 2011, deputy secretary hayes, we worked on that and i was pleased to get a model for an ocean energy safety institute that was mod modeled on a partnership noaa was had with the coastal, the university of new hampshire called the coastal research response center and was very disappointed when that legislation has, that legislation has not gone forward. but the research we still need to do to address the cleanup of oil spills, are there additional

opportunities like the partnership we have at the university of new hampshire with noaa to do some of that research that is not going to be done has thank is not going to be done as a result of the legislation that's not gone forward? >> deputy secretary? >> senator, first of all, thank you so much for your assistance on the oceanic center agency and institute. we continue to believe it's important that we have in the law the authority for the bureau of ocean and energy management to have a safety institute that will as a primary mission have the ability to partner with universities and industry and others to be on the cutting edge of research. we have ongoing research through the bureau of oceanic management, this budget has pretty robust investment in continuing to raise the bar of safety, but w

have a dedicated institute we're not taking advantage of where we should be as a nation. >> my time sup, it's important to point out it's not just safety we need to protect. we need to figure out how to deal with the problems after they occur, because as much as we want to protect, safety, and prevent spills the real sit we'll probably see some in the future so having the best technology to address those and research to do that is very important. thank you. >> if i may, mr. chairman, it's a useful conversation with all members of this committee, april 20th of 2010 was really not that long ago and this committee like the rest of the nation was laser focused on what was happening at 50,000 barrels of oil were spewing out into the gulf of mexico every day. it was a national crisis, and something that we all have lived

through and we ought never to have amnesia as a nation and the president nor i have amnesia about what happened in the gulf of mexico, nor the members of congress should not have amnesia either. to your point senator shaheen a lot of work has been done and a lot more that has to be done. today tom hunter well-known in the state of new mexico leads up a committee for us on offshore safety, looking at a whole host of things from the technology of blow-o be ne to ensure the safest production. we will move forward in the development of oil and gas and the nation's outer continental shelf, something that has bipartisan support to do that, but we need to do it in the safest possible way, and frankly, having the additional resources to develop the kinds of technologies that will keep us at the cutting edge is very important to the united states and i'm mindful as well,

shaheen, with respect to your question that this goes way beyond the united states of america. any of the oil and gas companies on a regular basis, they know what's happening, what is happening off the coasts of nigeria, algeria or brazil, norway and russia, those are all important matters so how we elevate the technology in terms of dealing with all aspects of ocean drilling is a really important opportunity for the united states, and we have to do it from the safety side, the prevention side, the response side, all aspects of ocean energy development. >> senator heller? >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> 85% of it is owned by the federal government, so that i

think in itself presents a lot of unique challengeds. the economic activity on the public lands in nevada is important and comes in a lot of forms. the ranching and recreation and some of those things so i'm concerned about the president's budget as it concerns your office. obviously there's concerns to my constituents also, they include smaller budgets for has arounds, fuel production, land acquisition, the 74% fee increase on public land grazers and in my opinion, the proposal of tax mining out of competitest to rising gas price in my state today, and i've seen

the bumper stickers you talk about in 2006, those are coming from the left so both sides i think have issues and concerns, and certainly like the bumper sticker politics but i want to talk about verbiage versus reality. i think the, ms. murkowski made comment to the production of natural g public lands that ed waters, in fiscal year 2011 dropped 11%, and the previous year, from the previous year. according to the interior data, also oil production on public lands has dipped nearly 14% and so as the administration talks about all this new production, none of it's being done on public lands, it's always being done on private land. in 2008, when you were a senator, you refused to vote for any new offshore drilling. in fact you had a conversation

with leader mitch mcconnell where youo awlog any new drilling on america's outer continental shelf even if gas prices reached $10 a gallon. well you're half way there, half way there. the question i guess we need to ask ourselves this the direction that this department is going and are we at some point in your, under your leadership leading gas to get to $10 a gallon? >> this is part of the phony debate with bumper sticker solutions to one of the most fundamental issues fixing the united states of america. >> so -- >> let me finish. when you speak to the statistic of what happened in 2011 in terms of production, you have to look at what was happening in the gulf of mexico. it's about 30% roughly of all our domestic energy comes from

the gulf of mexico, which senatou knows full well. we went through a crisis in 2010, and we're back and the rigs are back at work. in fact more rigs working now offshore and united states of america than any time in recent history, maybe in all of history, so whatever dip there was in production is because of the dip that happened in the gulf of mexico, in the wake of the 2011 mccondo oil well blow-out. >> i guess the question to follow up, did that conversation, that exchange occur on the senate floor, and is it accurate? >> senator heller, i know you will appreciate this, there are lots of conversations that take place on the floor of the senate, which are made for a

political statement and at that point in time there was a political statement. i think the facts are that we move forward -- >> it was a bumper sticker. >> it's a bumper sticker. we move forward, senator heller, with a robust outer continental shelf production. many people who thought after the deepwater horizon there would not be any more deepwater production in the united states of america. i think we'll continue to lead the world in both in terms of technology as well as the production that we're doing there, the $300 million lease sale that occurred just in december in new orleans i think is telling that we're moving forward in that direction. so in terms of my credentials and the president's credentials and support for offshore drilling, i have absolute confidence that we've moved in the right direction and we're moving forward in the balanced direction making sure we have safety and that we're protecting the environment as well. >> mr. secretary, thank you.

senator landrieu. >> mr. chairman thank you so much and mr. secretary, thank you for your focus and interest in the gulf coast, and your many visits down and your commitment to the restoration of our region, and the investments in our national parks and state parks and i know that you have a passion for conservation, and we appreciate that, but i want to add my voice to try to clarify that, in fact, the oil and gas production in our country, as you've just tried to explain, is lower than it has ever been on federal lands, both offshore and january shore, and the increase has come from production on private land. now, those are the facts. i'm not arguing about the price of gas and i would say to my republican colleagues that they should know that we can't drill our way out of this problem.

we cannot drill our way back to $2 or $3 gasoline, and i don't want to engage in bumper sticker politics but i do want to engage in good policy for this country, and speaking from louisiana's perspective, we need to get a more aggressive drilling policy in this country. we can't drill our way out, but we most certainly can create jobs. we most certainly can strengthen the u.s. independence. we most certainly can reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and the facts are that drilling on public lands are down, and they need to be increased. the other fact is, contrary to the inference that we are drilling everywhere we can in the outer continental shelf, you know, mr. secretary, the facts are these. we are drilling on less than 2%

of the ocs, 2%. only a small portion is leasable and of that leasable portion we're drilling on 2%. the ocs is 200 miles wide and it goes from oregon to maine, and we're drilling on less than 2%. so i just think it's important for us to be clear about what our situation is. in addition i want to say despite the administration's arguments that are laid out that you all are all guns blazing and green lights for drilling, the facts that i checked, and if you disagree, tell me, only 21 permits for been issued about i date. in 2010, there were 32 permits. i just left the annual conference of l.o.g.o., louisiana oil and gas

association, yesterday, mr. secretary, they were beside themselves not able to get permits approved. according to a study done, mr. franken, 41% of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, i'm not talking about exxon and shell that have operations all over the world, i'm talking about companies in the gulf coast, in texas, mississippi, louisiana and alabama, let me tell you what the studies show about their profits. 41% of them are not making a profit at all. 70% have lost significant cash reserves. 46 have moved operations way from the gulf and 82% of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of the slowdown. part of it is the accident and part of it is the permitorium. i have to continue to express

this to you privately and publicly. i know what you're trying to do and making statements about increasing production but i can tell you the reality in the gulf coast is not there. so that is one point that i wanted to make. secondly, and i'll get to a question in a minute. this 4% of an acre is being proposed for non-producing leases, can you explain where that, how much money that would raise, where it would be going? because we're already experiencing an increase of fees, a decrease in permits. we don't know if that money is coming from us and going else where to promote what we don't know, but we need more inspectors to get our permits and our drilling under way, in places that the people support drilling and the country needs the jobs. where is the four cents going to go and how much is it going to raise? >> senator landrieu i disagree with your conclusions. we -- the fact is when you've lived through a national crisis, i think it's very responsible

that we have moved forward now the approval and just last year over 100 shallow oil water permits, 60 deep water prmermit and rigs are back and work something very much public knowledge. we feel comfortable in terms of the production that is coming off of our public lands both onshore and offshore and i have the deputy secretary make a quick comment on that as well. >> thank you, mr. secretary, quickly on the onshore, we have 38 million acres available for leasing right now, only 16 million are in fact being leased. last year we had 32 onshore lease sales offering 4.4 -- >> i realize but to interrupt it's not about percentage of reduction under lease. if you said how much land you have in the united states on public lands and then took your percentage of what is leasable, and then took your percentage of what is drilled, you'd give the people of this country a better picture. again, and i'm not an expert on

onshore, but i am on offshore, 2% of the ocs is being drilled. do you agree with that or not? because those are the facts. >> uhm -- >> 2% of the entire ocs, yes or no? >> we've made available 75% of the reserves. >> that is not what i'm asking. >> we're not leasing areas where there is no oil offshore. >> what percent of the entire ocs of this country is being drilled on right now? what is that percentage? >> i'll take that, david. here's mary, senator landrieu, the fact of the matter is that there are tens, i think it's, maybe it's -- it is -- it is over 30 million, 40 million acres we did in the one lease sale. there is more that will be leased. the lease sale i did in new orleans in december, i think was 38 million acres, about 2 million acres of it was leased. >> mr. secretary -- >> when you make available in one lease sale tens of millions of acres and some of it is bid on the companies are going where they know the oil and gas is.

the fact is we are moving forward with a very robust gas leasing program. >> in my view mr. chairman we're never going to get clear as long as we continue to talk around and throw statistics out to try to make both sides look good. i'm not trying to make you look any worse. i'm just trying to get the facts out to the public. when you speak, you get people thinking that we're drilling everywhere, onshore and offshore, and the facts are not, don't justify that. you know that 98% of our offshore is limited to drilling. we can't even explore there. we're talking about what we're drilling within that 2%, and my final point and i'll say this, mr. chairman, you've been very good to me. i as a senator from louisiana have to come to this meeting every year and now looked at my notes to find out that wyoming last year got $1.7 billion in royalties, the senator is not here but i want my colleagues to

know the state of wyoming has 500,000 people. they got $1.7 billion that they kept, i don't know what they're doing with that money, i don't know if they're preserving land or conservation. louisiana, which produces more oil and gas than they have off of our shore has more infrastructure, got $160 million, and we have 4.5 million people. mr. chairman, this is the greatest injustice to the gulf coast of this united states, and i hope nobody puts a revenue sharing bill anywhere around this committee, because this senator will fight to the end, no state is going to be treated like our state, and we've been treated like this since 1920. >> do we have senators that haven't had the first round? i don't think so. so let me start with the second round. mr. secretary let me pass out and give to you some few charts that are from previous hearings we've had, and some that we've

developed ourselves, and i'll go through the three charts, and then ask for any comment. is someone passing those out? >> yes. >> the first of these charts mr. burke of cambridge university provided to us at our hearing about a month ago and he entitled it "the great revival of u.s. oil production." it says "the great revival of u.s. oil production has made the united states a leader in global