American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016 - 98

ConventionCoverage: Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association
hibernacula, and within 150 feet of a
known roust tree during June and July.
The bad news, she said, is that the
Center for Biological Diversity has filed
two lawsuits against the rule. She said
the environmental group had launched a
media campaign seeking to eliminate 4(d)
rules, and claiming liberal use of them by
the Obama administration "is a sell-out
to certain industries such as oil and gas."

Described by McDonald as a "sleeper
issue" was President Obama's November
directive to the Departments of Defense,
Interior and Agriculture, as well as EPA
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, to update their guidance
and regulations on offsetting environmental
harm.
The intent, she explained, is a "net conservation gain" through protecting entire

ecosystems rather than specific species,
and even species that are plentiful and at
no risk of being listed. "If the (bottom
line) is no net loss or conversion of natural
resources," McDonald characterized, "it
creates a lot of concern. At the end of the
day, it often could mean no projects approved or significant increases in costs associated with oil and gas development." ❒

Energy Issues Key For 2016 Elections
PITTSBURGH-Energy issues may
play a significant role in determining
who moves into the White House next
year, according to the luncheon keynoter
at the Pennsylvania Independent Oil &
Gas Association's spring meeting, April
7 in Pittsburgh.
And there is a real question whether
the new president will face a Republican
or Democratic majority in the Senate.
Political analyst and commentator
Charlie Gerow, who runs CEO Quantum
Communications from Harrisburg, Pa.,
advised PIOGA, "It is unlikely, in my
judgment, that whoever emerges as the
Republican nominee will lose any of the
Romney states from 2012. That means
the contest for the presidency will be
fought on a very narrow sliver of turf:
about a half dozen states-maybe eight-
that will be the true swing states. Many
of those states are energy-producing states,
where issues that are so important to all
of us in this room loom very large."
Pressed to be more specific, Gerow

replied that North Carolina, Virginia,
Ohio and Florida "clearly" were swing
states. "Whether Pennsylvania gets into
that mix remains to be seen," he expressed.
"The media are very fond of saying Pennsylvania is a swing state, but the fact is,
Republicans haven't carried Pennsylvania
since 1988."
Out West, he continued, "States with
significant chunks of electoral votes are
Colorado, perhaps Nevada, and maybe
New Mexico."
Controlling Congress
Equally unpredictable is control of
the U.S. Senate, Gerow went on. "I believe
the Republicans will continue to control
the House," he said. "But the Senate is a
very different situation. You have a half
dozen Republican senators who were
elected in the so-called sea-change election
of 2010 up for re-election. Presidential
elections bring out a very different set of
voters. As a result, the Democratic challengers in many of those states believe

Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association Chairman Gary Slagel (left) welcomes
political commentator Charlie Gerow, who delivered the luncheon keynote at PIOGA's
spring meeting, April 7 in Pittsburgh.

98 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

they have a leg up."
One of those, he suggested, is Pennsylvania's Republican incumbent Pat
Toomey, whom Gerow pointed out won
by a mere 2 percentage points in a year
that saw Republican Tom Corbett handily
win the governor's race, Republicans
swept the Pennsylvania House and Senate,
and the Republican congressional delegation "did exceptionally well."
While Gerow allowed that Toomey
had "done all the right things politically,"
nevertheless, "the metrics don't look very
good for him."
Samantha McDonald, director of government relations for the Independent
Petroleum Association of America, agreed
with Gerow's congressional assessments.
At 246-188, she said Republicans enjoyed
their largest House majority since 1929.
"The Republicans likely are going to
maintain control of the House," she predicted.
The Senate is less certain. Two years
ago when the Senate flipped from Democratic to Republican, McDonald observed,
"There were a lot of Democrats defending
seats in close elections. The opposite is
true this year."
She named Wisconsin and Illinois as
"likely to switch from Republican to Democrat. Polling is not good for Republicans
in those states."
In the toss-up category, McDonald
placed open seats in Nevada and Florida,
as well as New Hampshire, where Republican Kelly Ayotte "is fighting for her
political life. Voter turnout, as well as the
party nominees in the general election,
likely will determine whether she survives."
She said Colorado, where Democrat
Michael Bennet is seeking re-election,
"leans Democrat." On the flip side, she
also gave a slight edge to the re-election
bids of Republicans John McCain in Arizona, Rob Portman in Ohio, and Toomey.❒
American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016

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