277 



Mr. Stevens. I assure the Senator that I do not have any objection 

 if he wants to have a study made. I think the National Academy of 

 Sciences should be directed also to include in its study reconuncnda- 

 tions as to how to overcome such hazards, if they find there are any. 



Mr. Pell. Such a modification of the amendment would be accept- 

 able to the proponents of the amendment, if the Senator would care to 

 oiler it. 



Mr. Ste\T5NS. I suggest to the Senator from Ehode Island that he 

 add to the end of thelirst sentence the words "and shall include recom- 

 mendations to elimmate such environmental hazards, if any." Thai 

 would meet my objection. 



Mr, Pell. That modification would be acceptable to us, if the Sena- 

 tor would care to offer it. 



Mr. Ste\texs. I offer such a modification. 



Mr. Pell. I can modify the amendment, and I modify it accord- 

 ingly. 



The Presiding Officer. The Senator has the right to modify the 

 amendment. 



Mr. Ste\-exs. I send the modification to the desk. 



I say to the Senator from Ehode Island that, as far as the import 

 quota is concerned, we are most aware of the concern of the east coast 

 about the import quotas and their effect on the east coast. 



I point out to the Senator from Ehode Island that if we could pro- 

 ceed with our Alaska pipeline and add 3 million barrels a day to the 

 supply of American oil reaching American markets, it would auto- 

 matically displace 3 million barrels a day that presently are going into 

 the markets on the west coast and in the Midwest, and under the 

 present im.port system there would be an additional supply of oil so 

 far as the east coast is concerned. But I am becoming most concerned 

 that the people who look at each segment of the country, whether it be 

 Louisiana, California, or the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf, just 

 look at their own backyard and say. "Do not drill here, but give us 

 some energy and give it to us quickly." We have an energy shortage, 

 while at the same time we try to develop the oil shale reserves of 

 Colorado and Wyoming, and we cannot do it due to environmental 

 concerns. We cannot even build a pipeline across the State of Alaska 



We have been waiting for 2 years. 



I think it is time that we started questioning the addition of more 

 environmental barriers to the decisionmaking process of where the 

 oil and gas supplies for our country are going to come from. 



I am not going to oppose the amendment, and I appreciate his 

 courtesy in modifying it to meet my objection. I say to the Senator 

 from Ehode Island, respectfully, that even without this amendment, 

 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency would 

 have studied offshore drilling. The Council on Environmental Quality 

 would have studied offshore drilling. The Secretary of Interior would 

 have had to have an environmental impact hearing, a total hearing — 

 and the thousand people to whom the Senate referred could express 

 their views. But someone would have to make a decision on a proposed 

 project. There is no proposed project at the present time, and the 

 National Academy of Sciences is going to be investigating the poten- 

 tial without anyone being willing to commit himself and say, "If we 

 are going to do it, this is the way we want to do it." 



