472 



based on the size, projected size of the field, it is not worth leasing 

 at all now on Georges Bank. It is not worth the risk. 



Mr. D' Amours. Given the latest projections? 



Mr. FoY. Absolutely. 



Mr. D' Amours. All right. 



This will be my last question to this panel. 



Do any of you have any concrete suggestions for the subcommit- 

 tee and the Congress to consider as to ways in which we might set 

 standards to determine the relative risks in cases of offshore oil 

 leasing beyond the resource estimates we receive from USGS? 



Now, I know, Mr. Foy, you have just given such a standard. But I 

 want to give the rest of you an opportunity. Can you suggest any 

 standard beyond resource estimates that might guide the Congress 

 into setting some sort of reasonable basis upon which the Depart- 

 ment of Interior or any other Federal agency could judge whether 

 it is worth risking an extremely fragile ecosystem, in the case of 

 Georges Bank, or, in some other case, somewhere else in the coun- 

 try. 



Ms. Hughes. Mr. Chairman, if I might answer that first, I think 

 the most important thing the country needs is a national energy 

 policy, part of which would include a review of leasing offshore 

 lands for oil and gas development. And I think it is quite clear in 

 this administration that the offshore leasing program is in fact the 

 driving force behind the energy policy; that there is no — there has 

 been no thought given to what are the various ways that we can 

 contribute to our energy needs, and what is the most appropriate 

 way to go about that, given market forces, given available technol- 

 ogy, et cetera. 



Mr. D' Amours. OK. And I appreciate that comment. 



I fully agree with you, what you are saying is absolutely correct. 

 That is something for the administration to address, and I wish I 

 could be Mr. Watt just for a few years, to try to correct many of 

 the things that this administration has instituted in environmental 

 matters. But we don't have that option. 



I am asking you if you can propose anything we might do in Con- 

 gress that would give the States, the task force, and the Depart- 

 ment of Interior, some standard by which we could expect them to 

 make a fair judgment that considers the value of the resource and 

 the danger to the ecosystem. 



Is there any standard other than limiting size of lease tracts, as 

 Mr. Foy suggested, that you can think of? 



Mr. Foy. I can suggest eight possible things you might consider. 



Mr. D' Amours. You say eight? 



Mr. Foy. Eight. 



Mr. D' Amours. There is a way of submitting matters for the 

 record. 



Mr. Foy. Require better resource estimates than the Department 

 of Interior. Don't allow them to just get away with saying these 

 things are not worth anything. They should be worth something. It 

 seems to me 



Mr. D' Amours. They have been up until very recently. 



Mr. Foy. Yes. Until the past year or so they apparently were 

 worth a lot more than now. 



