The future of Obamacare. The prospect of drilling for oil off the Jersey Shore. The prospect of transporting oil through the proposed Keystone Pipeline. Those issues and many more are before the next Congress. And in Congress no one has more power than its ranking members. Two weeks ago, New Jersey’s 13-term Representative Frank Pallone became a ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Pallone told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that the biggest concern he wants to address is climate change but a lot of the Republicans do not want to address that issue.
Pallone said that one of the the biggest concerns he has is climate change because of the impact of Hurricane Sandy, particularly at the shore. That storm showed him and many others that something has to be done about climate change. He said that otherwise, the sea will continue to rise and there will be more severe storms which are very difficult to deal with, so that needs to be addressed. He said that it is going to be a challenge because a lot of Republicans do not want to address it.
When asked what he is up against with the Republicans in Congress, Pallone said that he does not see climate change as a partisan issue. As for the Keystone Pipeline, Pallone said that the pipeline is related to the climate change issue. He said he is concerned that the area where the oil is taken from, the development and extracting of the oil will cause problems with the greenhouse gases and will contribute in a major way to increase greenhouse gases and cause more problems in terms of climate change. He said there are also issues in terms of placement of the pipeline but that is not as important as the issue of climate change.
Pallone was instrumental in implementing the Affordable Care Act and he said that he thinks it is working well. He said many people who were not insured now have insurance.
The Republicans have filed in court to appeal the Affordable Care Act. Pallone responded, “Which is so strange because basically their argument is that we should not be giving the subsidies to help people pay for their premiums. Which goes to the whole affordability. So why do you want to challenge the ability of the federal government to help people pay their insurance premium? But that’s what they are doing.”
This morning, Pallone announced an effort to get FEMA to reform federal flood insurance for people post-Sandy. Pallone said that even though Sandy was a couple years ago, there are still major problems, not only with people’s insurance but also getting money to rebuild their homes from FEMA. He said one of the problems is that people have been denied their flood insurance claims. He said that what he announced today says that there has to be a lot more transparency and insurance companies have to turn over the records of the engineering reports and other items that they used to deny a claim. He said at the same time if the claim was completely denied because of a deadline, that person can go back again and refile it. He said that it has to do with transparency and making people aware of what their rights are.
When asked if people have a voice in whether or not oil should be drilled offshore, Pallone said, “I think we should. The Obama administration is basically reviewing every five years the idea of doing offshore drilling off of the coast of the Atlantic or other parts of the country. I have long been an advocate that we shouldn’t be drilling offshore on the Atlantic because first there are very little reserves and there is a lot of danger to the tourism industry from another spill like the one that occurred with BP in the Gulf. Generally speaking, the Obama administration has been agreeable that from New Jersey north we should not be drilling. But every five years that is reviewed and so now we want to make sure that there’s public input. We’re asking for a public hearing so that New Jersey residents have an opportunity to basically tell the administration or the agency how they feel. But my goal is that we continue a policy of not having drilling certainly off the coast of New Jersey and I think for the whole Atlantic Coast.”
Pallone sent a letter last July to Obama about this and Pallone said he was told that there would be public input but he would still like to have a hearing in New Jersey.