(West Des Moines) – Third District Congressional Candidate Mark Rees released the following statement on the recent West Virginia mine and Gulf Coast oil rig disasters:

“This month’s dual tragedies of a mine collapse in West Virginia and the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico have put the spotlight on the risks associated with most types of fossil fuel extraction.  Allegations have been raised that the owners of the West Virginia mine knowingly violated safety regulations. Today’s Wall Street Journal writes that the Deepwater Horizon rig did not have an automated valve shutoff that is not required by regulators, but is in use by other major offshore oil producing countries such as Norway and Brazil.

These two events resulted in a significant loss of life and, in the case of the offshore rig, potentially serious damage to the environment.  They also underscore the need to balance safety and environmental concerns with our nation’s mandate to reduce our dependence on foreign energies.  It has been my position, since beginning my campaign for Congress, that while we should continue efforts to utilize more of our indigenous resources, every effort should be made to increase safety and enforce best-practice regulations.  When regulatory violations are discovered, those responsible should be prosecuted and fined to the fullest extent under the law. Regardless of any violations, they should be required to pay for all containment, cleanup, and environmental restoration costs.

It should not go unmentioned that while these incidents were both large scale disasters, their occurrence is also quite rare.  The national energy policy that I have proposed, and is available on my website at www.MarkReesforCongress.com/issues, calls for a balanced approach of increased exploration, rescinding inactive production rights, expanding alternative energy sources through clearly structured, well defined investment tax credit programs, and rigorous enforcement of environmental regulations.

I have committed to voters in the 3rd Congressional District that my campaign will be about ideas and solutions, not sound bites and clichés.  For more of my policy proposals and positions, please visit my website or email me at markreesforcongress@gmail.com.”