Midstream & Transport Monitor - October 9, 2015

In a wide-ranging panel discussion, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota); Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas); and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) agreed that an all-or-nothing approach by industry won’t work. Heitkamp said there are “irrational” positions on both sides of energy issues.
“I’m the 49th most liberal senator from the 50th most conservative state—I know about compromise,” Heitkamp said at the Washington, D.C., conference.
Current energy issues “are no-brainers that would take five minutes to solve in a boardroom,” Heitkamp said, but added that government doesn’t work the same way corporations do. Congress has to hear and respond to multiple viewpoints. Unfortunately, energy issues now are falling into two, bitterly opposed camps and the energy industry will suffer if it doesn’t respond.
“Energy opponents are in an irrational conflict with the oil and gas industry: They (energy) are the bad guys” in the view of environment activists, Heitkamp said. However, energy providers tend to want everything they seek and ignore their opponents. Thus, nothing gets done, she said.