Senator Mike Lee took on multiple topics during his visit to the Uintah Basin last week. During his stop in Vernal, Senator Lee spoke at length about the damage that over-regulation of the energy industry has on the local economy. “It is difficult to overstate the damage that this inflicts,” shared Senator Lee. “Even though at the end of the last administration they pointed out that we had made strides in energy development, virtually all of them happened in spite of the administration, not because of them.” Those strides had virtually all occurred on private land, outside of states like Utah that are overrun with public lands. “We have an administration now that wants America to be energy independent…and there is no reason why we can’t, especially when we consider the energy sources out here that are not tapped into,” continued Senator Lee. “The Basin alone has a trillion barrels in oil shale alone but it’s on public lands, locked up in areas we cannot access because of federal regulations.” Lee emphasized the need for Americans to join the cause of federalism and the separation of powers in order to limit federal power and prevent the swinging back and forth of regulations.
