Hodel Says He’d Seek Consensus on Drilling, Mining
WASHINGTON — Donald P. Hodel said today that as Interior secretary he would work to forge a “national consensus†that would allow stepped-up energy and mineral exploration on federal lands and off the nation’s coastline.
“I do not believe this nation must choose between adequate energy and an improving environment; we can have both,†Hodel, the current energy secretary, told his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Hodel, once the No. 2 official at interior under the controversial James G. Watt, flatly ruled out any opening up of national parks and wilderness areas to oil and gas drilling, coal and minerals mining and timber harvesting. But he said he would work to open up “vast acreages of federally held multiple-use lands†to such activities under programs that have been stalled since Watt left office under fire in October, 1983.
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