Energy

To lower energy prices for families and businesses in Michigan and across America, our country must utilize our abundant domestic energy resources in the most efficient and effective means possible.  The United States has 50 years worth of oil and natural gas in Alaska, the deep waters of the Outer Continental Shelf, and newly-discovered formations throughout the continental United States.  However, President Obama has continually blocked efforts to expand energy exploration in these resource-rich areas.

To increase domestic energy production and help the United States move further down the path to long-term energy security, last year the House of Representatives passed three important pieces of legislation.  All of these bills are awaiting further action in the Senate.  H.R. 1231, the Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act, lifts President Obama’s ban on new offshore drilling by requiring the Administration to move forward in the 2012-2017 lease plan with energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources.  H.R. 1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, requires the Obama Administration to move forward promptly to conduct offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Virginia that the Administration has delayed or canceled.  And H.R. 1229, the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, puts an end to the Obama Administration’s de facto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico in a safe, responsible, transparent manner by setting firm timelines for considering permits to drill, which provide certainty and allow employers and workers to get back on the job.

In addition to better utilizing our own domestic resources, the United States must also increase our ability to secure access to the abundant energy resources throughout the North American continent.  The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed $7 billion, nearly 1,700-mile, 36-inch crude oil pipeline that will stretch from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast, bringing significant new oil supplies to refineries in the country.  Estimates from TransCanada, the company that applied to build the pipeline, project that more than 100,000 jobs could be created over the life of the project, including an estimated 20,000 jobs in construction and manufacturing.  Despite the clear energy and economic benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline, it has been more than three years since the application was filed to build the pipeline and bring jobs and energy security to America.  Unfortunately, President Obama has refused to make a decision on granting the permit.  With the administration’s refusal to make a decision, Congress must continue to take action to move ahead with the project in order to enhance our long-term energy security and create the jobs Americans are demanding.