SENATE ENERGY COMPROMISE A BAD DEAL
By: Congressman John R. Carter
Over the past months we have talked a lot about energy and the high price you pay at the pump. We all know that paying close to four dollars for a gallon of gasoline is an acute symptom of a chronic ailment-our nation’s failure to break its dependence on foreign oil.
Today, for every three barrels of oil our nation consumes, more than two are imported from other nations – much of it from nations that are unfriendly to out interests. So not only is our inability to set a national energy policy draining your budgets and leaching the lifeblood out of our economy, it is undercutting our foreign policy.
Time and time again I have said that I fully support an energy bill that will utilize every drop of American energy – including oil and gas in ANWR, shale oil, and off the Outer Continental Shelf. We saw the price drop when the President lifted the ban on offshore drilling, and if Congress will follow suit, we will see the price drop even further.
The word in Washington is that the Senate is putting together a bipartisan energy bill. While I was initially excited after hearing this news, what I have read regarding the proposal is not thrilling. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Senate energy bill would leave new production of offshore federal lands to the state legislatures in only four states. The article goes on to state that, “The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast –putting some of the most productive areas off limits. Alaska’s oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.”
Republicans in the House are fighting for what the American people want, what they have asked for and ultimately what they need. The Senate “compromise” does not represent the fight that Republicans and the American people are waging in Congress while Nancy Pelosi is on summer break touting her new book. This compromise doesn’t include any exploration for energy in ANWR or in the Western United States. To make matters worse, it increases taxes on domestic manufacturers, and allows groups like the Sierra Club to hold up exploration along our coasts for years. The Sierra Club and their comrades have effectively held up the building of new refineries in this country for 30 years. Thankfully the American people are fed up, and are insisting we continue to fight for the use of all American resources, without interference from outside special interest groups.
Americans need an energy bill that will reduce our dependency on foreign oil and reduce prices at the pump. The only way to do this is harness all types of energy, including the energy stored in ANWR, the Western U.S. and the Outer Continental Shelf. Republicans in the House have a bill that will do just that, the American Energy Act. I hope my colleagues on the Senate side will take a long-hard look at their compromise and realize it is not what American people are hoping for. As always, I will keep the fight going in Washington, and I will keep working on behalf of my constituents to deliver the relief they so desperately need.
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