Pump Up Domestic Drilling

Statement

With consumers in Riverside County paying an all-time high of about $4.50 a gallon for gasoline, the Democratic leaders of this Congress refuse to allow us to seek energy independence by increasing domestic drilling.

We are paying at the pump for the federal government's refusal to open domestic sources of energy to responsible exploration and development, such as opening up the Outer Continental Shelf or the Alaskan Coastal Plain. Instead, we are sending our petro-dollars off to places like Hugo Chavez's regime in Venezuela and the Middle East . The United States remains the only developed country in the world that restricts the development of its own energy resources.

While refusing to vote on opening up America 's energy resources, Democrats have instead pushed the idea that our foreign suppliers should simply pump more. This non-action "plan" leaves us begging Venezuela and the rest of the OPEC cartel to bail us out.

This continued dependence on foreign imports puts our national security and our economy at risk. Last year, America spent $700 billion on foreign energy. Our continued prosperity depends upon our achieving energy independence.

We have had numerous opportunities over the last two decades to take necessary steps to ensure our independence, but the powerful environmental lobby has been successful in placing development of our domestic energy resources off limits.

In 1987, President Reagan tried to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, America 's single largest untapped onshore source of oil, for development but Congress refused. In 1995 Congress passed legislation that would have opened up ANWR for exploration and development, but President Clinton vetoed it. In 2001, 2003 and 2005, efforts to open 2,000 acres of the 19-million-acre refuge for production were blocked by environmental lobbyists.

Tap Vast Resources

Congress, under Democratic leadership, has also refused to lift the ban on developing energy from most of the Outer Continental Shelf. Yet, in 2006, Cuba allowed foreign countries to drill off its coast -- just 40 miles off the coast of Florida and Key West . Excluding Alaska, 85 percent of America's oil resources are off-limits to drilling despite the fact that America 's deep seas on the Outer Continental Shelf contain at least 86 billion barrels of oil. On-shore federal lands are estimated to contain 31 billion barrels of oil. However, the federal government denies or restricts 92 percent of these reserves.

Our prosperity cannot depend on policies reminiscent of President Carter's failed energy policy that liberals keep rehashing. Remember the days of the cardigan sweater and the declaration that Americans need to get used to it? Conservation alone cannot achieve lower energy prices and expanded economic growth.

Democrats continue to argue that new renewable technologies are the key to energy independence. The hard fact remains that energy from solar, hydro, geothermal and wind combined equal only about 4 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. I strongly support efforts to develop these technologies -- along with efforts to improve energy efficiency and promote nuclear power -- but they are just part of the solution. There is no silver bullet that can take us back to $1.50 a gallon gas prices anytime soon. Economic growth and the need for energy in countries like China and India place new and very real demand constraints on the supply of oil.

The long-term global supply and demand outlook dictates that we research alternative energy technologies that Democrats and Republicans support. But, if we want to keep a lid on energy prices for the next 30 years and stop sending our cash to Venezuela and other foreign nations, we need to open up our own energy resources.

Enough Avoidance

Inaction and continued avoidance of the real issues are not options.

Our country has always risen to meet any challenge. We do not hunker down in defeat in difficult times. Immediate action must take place to solve this energy crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should direct Congress to craft bipartisan legislation that opens up our domestic reserves, cuts bureaucratic red tape in developing energy projects, encourages sensible energy conservation efforts, gives tax incentives for clean alternative technologies and provides a blueprint for the next generation of energy sources beyond fossil fuels.

Source