Dr. Steve Hudson Urges Van Hollen To Abandon "Use It Or Lose It" Policy Towards American Oil Companies And Find Real Solutions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Daniel Campos

Phone: 240-277-9941

Maryland's Eighth District Congressional Candidate, Dr. Steve Hudson is urging Chris Van Hollen to abandon his "Use It or Lose It" slogan/public relations campaign against the American oil industry.

Dr. Hudson released the following statement: "This errant policy confuses the public by misrepresenting the nature and state of mineral rights leases and the realities of oil production on the mainland."

Hudson continued saying, "I do not want this to be misconstrued as advocacy for the big oil companies, because it is not. The leases our government signed are supposed to be binding contracts, and if we decide to ignore or threaten them when politically suitable ... You tell me, who in their right mind would ever do business with the United States in the future?"

This "Use It or Lose It" political soundbite, similar to Van Hollen's oft recited "status quo," does nothing to improve the accessibility of fields that requires months or even years of geological modeling techniques to find the oil. Nor does it improve the infrastructure for drilling or the status of discovery/field sizing (which may categorize a lease as non-producing even as work is progressing). Most importantly, it does nothing to help anyone produce another drop of oil for us to use as we attempt to transition to a state of energy independence. It does, however, make the United States government appear untrustworthy and vindictive.

In a characteristically partisan way, Van Hollen is trying to confuse issues and generate a misguided public angst towards the U.S. oil industry. This is simply blame-shifting in an eletcion year and fails to address the underlying problems. Punishing oil companies by stripping them of their leases takes money out of the pension programs of teachers and firefighters and does not produce a single drop of oil.

Hudson concluded, "If Mr. Van Hollen wants to go after CEO pay, that is another issue, but do not unnecessarily strip the hard working citizens and taxpayers of their investment dividends. If we are to survive this energy crisis, our oil companies will be the ones to help us. For all of our benefit, let us see if we can work with them instead of against them."

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