Statement Of Senator Carl Levin on S.3711, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006

Mr. President, I intend to support cloture on S.3711, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, and will vote for final passage. I am voting for cloture and for final passage because I believe we need to move forward to open up more areas for natural gas exploration to address the increasingly tight natural gas supply in the U.S and its resulting high prices, but to do so in a way that protects our environment.

Over the past six years, the tight natural gas supply and increasing costs of natural gas has had a significant impact on consumers and particularly on the U.S. manufacturing sector, which depends on natural gas as both a fuel source and a feedstock and raw material. With U.S. natural gas prices the highest in the industrialized world, many companies have made decisions to move their manufacturing operations offshore. More than two million manufacturing jobs have been lost to overseas operations in the last five years, and I believe we need to take reasonable efforts to bring down the cost of natural gas in the U.S.

I agree with many of my colleagues that this compromise on offshore oil and gas exploration represents what is achievable in the Senate, and I urge the leadership on both sides to resist strongly any efforts by the House to broaden the scope of this legislation. If the bill comes back from conference with the House of Representatives without the Senate limits and environmental protections, I will not support the final product worked out by the conferees. Senator Reid’s letter to Senator Nelson is very reassuring in that regard.