The rising cost of energy is hurting everyone. Look at your own expenses. We are paying more for gas, food and electricity, which means cutting back in other areas. It affects the entire economy.
But there is good news - we can reverse those rising prices by using the resources we have right here in America. That includes everything from drilling for more oil to developing better, more cost effective supplies of renewable fuels.
It is all part of a long term solution. We need to lower energy prices now and come up with ways to keep them low in the future.
Unfortunately some in Washington are looking for a quick fix.
Just this week the Consumer Energy Supply Act of 2008 was voted down. The title makes it sound great, but this bill was nothing more than a political ploy.
It would have required the sale of 70 million barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve or SPR. The SPR is designed to provide the United States with an emergency oil supply should a disruption in commercial oil sales threaten the U.S. economy and for national defense purposes in times of emergency.
This bill was the definition of a quick fix because it would produce the equivalent of a three day supply of gasoline, which would have minimal (if any) impact on prices.
This doesn’t address the root of the problem or provide security for our nation.
Our country is a treasure chest of energy. We just need to unlock it and start producing American energy for the American people.
Democrats have said that it will take 10 years to get oil production going. That is simply not true. We can convert coal to liquid in the next two years. We can be drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, if it’s allowed, within the next year. We could be doing major pilot projects on shale oil resources within the next year. In the next year we can be drilling in parts of federal lands that are currently held up because of federal permitting.
Those are all things that can be done very quickly and it’s not going to take 10 years if we give the green light to drill and develop in Alaska. Experts tell me you could have production there within five years.
The thing that we’ve got to do if we’re going to bring energy prices down and keep them down is change the fundamental difference between supply and demand in the world oil market. You’ve got 85 million barrels of oil we’re using daily worldwide and we’re only producing 86 million barrels. That small margin and fear of any supply disruption allows speculators to step in and bid up oil to the record prices we’ve seen over the last two months.
A gimmick like the Consumer Energy Supply Act where we take some oil out of the SPR is not going to change the fundamental supply/demand problem on the world market.
I believe we need a strategic plan and part of that plan has got to be to develop American energy resources and alternative fuels.
Speaker Pelosi, for some reason, is adamantly afraid of that kind of bill coming to the floor. I don’t care if it’s a Democrat bill or a Republican bill, but let a bill come up that’s got some real domestic energy supply in it and have an honest debate about what is really going to ease the growing burden on American families.
People are asking for help and we are offering real solutions. Republicans recently introduced the all encompassing American Energy Act. This landmark legislation is an “all of the above” energy bill that will help reduce gas prices by harnessing new technologies, encouraging greater conservation and efficiency, and increasing American energy production in an environmentally-safe manner.
Some Members of Congress need to remember who we work for. This is the people’s House and we should take the actions our constituents need and demand.
The problem is some in Washington are playing political games while across the country people suffer. They are using parliamentary stall tactics to block a vote or debate on our bill. I have repeatedly asked members of the Democratic leadership – ‘What are you afraid of? Are you afraid people might actually like us to develop more American energy for American families and America’s factories?’
Bipartisan passage of the American Energy Act would demonstrate to the world that America will no longer keep its rich energy resources under lock-and-key. Not only will it help bring down the price of gasoline, but it will make needed investments in the alternative fuels that will power our lives and our economy in the future.
Do it all, Do it now, Do it for America!
|