American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015 - 175

ConventionCoverage: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners
almost $750 billion worth of investments
in the overall economy, potentially increase
the value of U.S. exploration and production by $995 billion, and raise gross
domestic product by $135 billion.

Energy Strategy
In addition to pushing for an end to
the oil export ban, Flores said he was
proposing a 21st century energy strategy
for the United States. He wants to allow
the industry to explore for oil and gas on
more federal lands both on- and offshore
that are not considered environmentally
sensitive, he said.
"To co-opt the other side, proceeds
from that could be put into an endowment
that could fund education, infrastructure
and basic research," he suggested.
Some of those dollars could fund clean
coal research, he said, adding that an energy policy also must consider additional
nuclear power, and research should be
performed to determine the best alternative
fuels.
Turning to the administrative branch,
Flores said regulatory actions from the
Obama administration had undermined
the rule of law and mirrored practices
similar to those in third world countries.
"It's my goal to do as much as I can to
slow that until we figure out what political
decision the American people are going
to make in 2016," he imparted.
Despite all the talk, Flores insisted
too many questions remained about climate
change. "The climate has been changing
since God created the Earth," he mused.

Congressman Bill Flores
(left), R-Tx., and Texas Land
Commissioner George P.
Bush (right) flank TIPRO
immediate past-Chairman
David F. Martineau. Both
men addressed the Texas
Independent Producers &
Royalty Owners Association during its 2015 annual
convention, March 2-4 in
Austin.

"The question is how much is caused by
man. We hear a lot of hypotheses, but
haven't seen good science. If we turn
carbon emissions to zero, what impact
will it have?"
He said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to lower the
National Ambient Air Quality standard
for ozone from 75 parts per billion to 6065 ppb demonstrated the federal government's overreach.
Noting that the Houston-Galveston
area, Dallas-Fort Worth, and the San Antonio-Austin corridor all have had ozone
attainment challenges, Flores said background readings of naturally occurring
ozone were about 72 ppb for the whole
state, leaving cities unable to meet attainment standards.

More than 50 TIPRO members and staff gather at the Texas Capitol prior to calling on
lawmakers as part of the association's annual convention, held March 2-4 in Austin.
Members conducted more than 30 legislative office visits, meeting with more than a
dozen lawmakers and their staffs, including House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio,
and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's staff.

"That is how bad the EPA's rule making is," he remarked. "It will touch everybody in this state."
Flores said the proposal would be the
most expensive regulation in history,
costing trillions of dollars. Two-thirds of
the technology required to lower emissions
to the proposed level doesn't exist today,
he pointed out.

Other Issues
On a variety of other federal issues:
* Despite the efforts of the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, Flores said recovery
rates for endangered species were less than
1 percent. He said he and other
congressional leaders planned to reintroduce a bill to enable states and landowners
to participate in negotiations between
USFWS and environmental groups.
* He said Obama's veto of a bill to
authorize construction of the Keystone
XL Pipeline was an example of putting
special interests of "environmentalists
and other Washington insiders ahead of
hard-working Americans."
* As a legislative victory, Flores
pointed to passage of a bill to reform
natural gas pipeline permitting and speed
permitting of liquefied natural gas export
projects. The capital markets should sort
out winners and losers among permitted
projects instead of the government, Flores
held.
* Flores said he planned to continue
pushing back against the advances of at
least 12 federal agencies looking into
regulating hydraulic fracturing. He
promised to continue to promote legislation that would enable state regulations
on hydraulic fracturing to trump federal
standards.
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APRIL 2015 175

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015

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