The quarter century-old moratoriums on exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf and the American interior for oil shale expire today. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) has pushed to end the moratoria on these sources of energy and recognized today as American Energy Freedom Day, the day Americans will begin to benefit from the vast amounts of American petroleum and natural gas.
"Today, Americans are one step closer to ending our reliance on energy from the OPEC cartel and other hostile countries," said Rep. Royce.
In Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming we have the largest known oil shale deposits in the world, holding from 1.5 to 1.8 trillion barrels of crude oil. Of that, some 800 billion barrels are recoverable with current technology. That's roughly triple the known reserves of Saudi Arabia.
The Outer Continental Shelf contains nearly 18 billion barrels of crude oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. With access to these resources Americans will see a tremendous increase in supply. Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve said of this situation, only a one percent increase in supply could result in a ten percent decrease in price.
"While this is a step in the right direction, Americans deserve more. We need to harness the technological ingenuity of the American worker and focus on achieving long term energy independence by making strides in the area of renewable energy.
"Nuclear, wind, solar, and lithium-ion car batteries for electric hybrids will provide the base of our energy supply in the future. Improvements in vehicular fuel efficiency have also helped, benefiting the environment and lessening our reliance on oil. Developing new, clean technology is an economic necessity and it is vital to our national security."
Rep. Ed Royce was one of the 155 members to call for the expiration of the moratoria in a letter to the Democrat Leadership.
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