©2025 League of Conservation Voters
2011 Scorecard Vote
253
166
11
Issues
Representative Cory Gardner (R-CO) sponsored H.R. 2021, the so-called Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011, which would allow oil companies to sidestep critical Clean Air Act protections and avoid common-sense air pollution limits on their offshore drilling operations. The bill would exempt these companies from requirements to apply available pollution control technology to vessels involved in offshore drilling, and waive permit reviews by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board. On June 22, the House passed H.R. 2021 by a vote of 253-166 (House roll call vote 478). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. Unfortunately, language with a similar goal of giving oil companies a free pass to pollute was included in the compromise FY12 omnibus appropriations bill, H.R. 2055, which the president signed into law on December 23. This language moves responsibility for Arctic offshore drilling air pollution permitting from the EPA to the Department of the Interior–in effect, exempting the industry from the Clean Air Act’s health-based national ambient air quality standards and the Act’s program to prevent significant deterioration of air quality.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters