Hastings Jumpstarts Debate On American Energy Production with Three New Measures
WASHINGTON– This morning, Representative Doc Hastings, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, announced three new proposals to increase America’s energy production, create well-paying, long-term jobs, and decrease our reliance on foreign state-owned oil companies. In response, Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, issued the following statement:
“While gas prices continue to climb and Americans continue to suffer the consequences, America’s vast oil resources lay idle. There are about 40 billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico alone, in addition to the approximately 14 billion barrels off of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.”
“These resources can, and should, be producing thousands of well-paying jobs, providing millions of barrels of oil per day to our nation, and bringing in billions in royalties to the cash-strapped federal government. Instead, the Obama Administration has kept most of it under lock and key and indicated that they will remain locked up until at least 2017.”
“The legislation presented today by the House Natural Resources Committee Chairman, Representative Doc Hastings, is an important step in allowing Americans to take control of their energy resources. “
“The ‘Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act’ would require the Obama Administration to follow the scheduled 2007-2012 leasing plan and sell the leases for areas off of Virginia and in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The ‘Putting the Gulf Back To Work Act’ would streamline the permitting process and end the destructive ‘permitorium’ in the Gulf of Mexico where the Obama Administration has already destroyed 13,000 jobs.”
“The ‘Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act’ would open up America’s vast domestic offshore resources that the Obama Administration has kept under lock and key. As our studies have shown, developing these resources would produce millions of jobs, billions of dollars in wages, and trillions in economic output, not to mention decrease our need for foreign state-owned oil companies in hostile regions of the world.”
“Crude oil and taxes comprise about eighty percent of the price of gasoline. If the price of crude comes down, so will the price at the pump. With world demand increasing, the only way to bring down the price of oil is to increase supply. Passing these pieces of legislation would send a strong signal to the markets that the world’s third largest oil producer is ready to drastically increase production.”
“Due exclusively to government policies, America has unnecessarily relied on unstable regions of the world to provide increasing supplies. If America is going to get serious about energy security, we must get serious about developing our vast natural resources. The proposals made today are common sense ideas that would bring down the price of gas and strengthen America’s energy future.”