This week, the House is scheduled to consider two American Energy Initiative bills that will begin to address skyrocketing gas prices and help the economy get back to creating jobs by increasing U.S. energy production. The New York Times has the details:
“The House leadership has scheduled votes for Thursday on a pair of bills that would spur more offshore oil and gas exploration and expedite the permitting process. Top Republicans see those measures as reinforcing their argument that Democrats and the Obama administration are partly responsible for rising prices at the pump because they have stifled domestic production.”
While House Republicans work to unlock our vast energy resources, the Democrats who run Washington continue pressing their job-crushing energy moratorium. Gas prices have been rising for two months and hitting new highs while economic experts fear that the price pinch could weaken our frail economy. Here’s a few recent headlines:
- FEDERAL GOV’T SLOWS AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION TO A “TRICKLE”: “But the 10 new wells that have received permits from the newly created U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so far this year pale in comparison to the rate of permitting in prior years, according to a Reuters analysis of permits. The pace of government-issued permits so far in 2011 is about a third the rate for the same period in each of the previous five years, 40 versus an average of 119 in 2006 through 2010”
- PRESIDENT OBAMA PROMOTES DRILLING IN BRAZIL, BUT NOT AMERICA: “Instead of drilling here, the Obama Administration is promoting offshore oil production in Brazil…It seems that Mr. Obama's administration will go to lengths to obtain oil supplies from everywhere but the United States and Canada.
- MEANWHILE, RISING PRICES THREATEN THE ECONOMY, JOB CREATION: “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday that a prolonged rise in oil prices would pose a danger to the U.S. economy.”
Americans are worried that a gallon of regular gas will cost $5 by July, according to a survey out yesterday byRasmussen Reports, and an ABC News-Washington Post survey found that seven in 10 say they are already suffering “financial hardship” due to skyrocketing gas prices. A recent CNN survey shows “[s]even in 10 support increased offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.”
While this week’s legislation is an important step forward in addressing the rising price of gas, it is only a start. House Republicans will take action on several other proposals in the coming weeks that will help unlock our energy resources to provide relief at the pump and help create jobs.
READ MORE:
No comments:
Post a Comment