February 15, 2012

IN THE NEWS

The President’s policies have failed and are making the economy worse.  According to an LA Times article, the U.S. average for regular gasoline climbed to $3.523 a gallon over the last week – a sign that pain at the pump may soon rise to some of the highest levels ever.  According to one expert, "There's a chance that the U.S. average tops $4 a gallon by June, with some parts of the country approaching $5 a gallon."  

John Hofmeister, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy and the former CEO of Shell Oil’s U.S. operations, stated in a CNBC article that U.S. policymakers should start considering the drain on the system from developing countries like China and India.  To this point, Hofmeister said, “While we may be producing a bit more oil in this country, and while demand is down a bit, on a global basis I’m afraid we face a continuing onslaught of prices creeping ever higher.”

Hofmeister goes on to say that while the Obama administration “is doing victory laps” about new rules to raise domestic energy production, there are still permitting delays for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Obama administration’s refusal to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline has only added to the growing concern about domestic production and availability of affordable oil resources.  As such, Hofmeister claims that “we have not had the kind of public policy support for domestic natural resource production increases that would carry through into market prices in the United States given the global demand and geopolitical uncertainty that comes out of the [Persian] Gulf daily.”

Recent reports confirm what many American families know: gasoline is taking more out of the family budget than it did at this time last year.  High fuel costs are a drag on our struggling economy, hurting families and making it harder for small business owners to hire new workers.  Republicans understand that we need to increase domestic gasoline production and lessen U.S. dependency on more expensive imported fuel.

In order to address high gas prices and create more than a million new private-sector jobs, the House will consider H.R. 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012. 

H.R. 7 would require the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline which will create tens of thousands of jobs and carry oil from Canada, North Dakota and Montana to refineries on the Gulf Coast.  The bill would also lift President Obama’s moratorium on energy exploration and would require the administration to move forward on lease sales in the most resource-rich offshore areas.  

The bill would open a small portion of ANWR that was first set aside in 1980 for oil and natural gas development.  The bill would also open up new western areas for oil shale production, and would create a clear set of rules to promote investment in oil shale.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT

During a recent Energy and Commerce hearing, Rep. Waxman (D-CA) made the following statement regarding job creation: ”A formula for creating jobs, is to put money in people’s hands, get jobs for them, real jobs, not these pipeline jobs that seem to fit the Republican agenda.”

However, Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) corrected Rep. Waxman by accurately stating, “The President’s own Commission said that one place to look for job development was building pipelines.  That was the President’s Commission.”

As Rep. Cassidy accurately points out, President Obama’s Jobs Council wrote in their report that “timely development of pipeline, transmission and distribution projects are necessary.”  The tens of thousands of jobs that would be created by the Keystone XL pipeline – all at no cost to the hardworking taxpayers – should rightly be considered as “real jobs.”  According to a recent article by Phil Kerpen, vice president for policy at Americans for Prosperity, Waxman, like the President, still unabashedly supports the “ongoing ‘green jobs’ disaster spawned by the stimulus bill.” 

House Republicans have a Plan for America’s Job Creators – it’s time for the President and Democrats in the Senate to stop blocking our jobs bills.  Additionally, House Republicans have approved legislation that addresses the real drivers of our debt and included fundamental pro-growth tax reform, eliminating the corporate loopholes and subsidies to help create more job opportunities like Keystone, and end taxpayer-funded bailouts like Solyndra. 

 

For questions or further information contact Sarah Makin