By U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. As we approach the peak driving months of summer
gasoline prices are nearly $4 a gallon double the cost when President Obama took office. Its no coincidence that American workers and families are still struggling through the weakest economic recovery and highest sustained joblessness since the Great Depression. High energy costs are keeping our country in the economic doldrums.
The President likes to remind us that he doesnt control the price of gasoline. He blames the Japanese earthquake Middle East unrest and conspiracies by wily speculators and greedy oil companies. The American people dont expect their President to halt earthquakes. They simply ask that he try to protect our families and businesses from price spikes and supply disruptions with the opportunities he does have. Unfortunately the President is unwilling to do so.
Instead the Obama Administration is committed to priorities that reduce domestic energy production increase reliance on foreign sources and drive energy costs higher. Recall that the Presidents Secretary of Energy once suggested that $8 or $9 a gallon for gasoline should be the goal. Together administration policies fulfill an extreme no-growth environmental objective and anchor our economy to a bleak future.
The Obama oil and gas permitorium" has virtually halted new exploration offshore and on federal lands. New EPA rules are forcing coal-fired power plants across the country to close which will drive up utility bills for businesses and families. The President presses constantly for higher taxes on domestic energy production that would only lead to higher prices at the pump.
The Presidents wrongheaded energy policies are perhaps best illustrated by his blocking of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would
bring a huge (estimated at 830000 barrels of oil sands daily) stable supply of oil from our friendly neighbors in Canada. The privately financed pipeline would create thousands of construction jobs as well as thousands of permanent jobs at U.S. refineries at no cost to taxpayers.
If the Keystone XL pipeline isnt built Canada will have no choice but to export its oil to China. Republican and Democrat Governors and Members of Congress support the pipeline. Even the Washington Post has editorialized in support. But President Obama refuses to sign the necessary permits.
Another troubling and recent decision by the administration was the Presidents executive order Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources."
Dont be fooled by the name.
President Obama now seems to believe that we need another government board because the administrations efforts to regulate natural gas production have become so complicated and convoluted. When states are already safely and effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking") why is the President demanding more government control and more oversight over the development and production of natural gas?
These kinds of policies will guarantee higher energy costs fewer jobs slower economic growth and a lower standard of living for Americans. Fortunately there is a better way forward. Underneath our lands and our shores are natural resources that can make the U.S. energy independent for generations to come.
Thanks to new technology the U.S. has access to 2000 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves a 100-year supply of the cleanest greenest of all fossil fuels. We are already the worlds largest natural gas producer and production increased by an astounding 50 last year. Natural gas use for electricity generation is growing rapidly and conversion to natural gas-powered cars and trucks is on the horizon.
But this progress is being threatened by the administrations intent on adding more and more layers of bureaucracy and control to regulate hydraulic fracking. We cannot let that happen.
Our country also remains the Saudi Arabia of coal. Underneath the ground are still at least 275 billion tons of coal enough for 250 years. Clean coal technology is becoming a reality and global demand for exports of American coal is growing by leaps and bounds.
Its true that we continue to import most of the oil we need but there is better news on this front too. The use of new oil well technologies on private lands has boosted total U.S. oil production to new highs. Thanks to advances in exploration and production the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates there are 200 billion barrels of recoverable oil not counting upwards of 100 billion barrels of oil (and 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas) located in the Gulf of Mexico and other offshore areas where the Administration currently blocks development.
We need to continue energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources. But the crucial missing piece of our national energy
strategy is development of our abundant natural resources. Responsible development of these resources can create hundreds of thousands of new good-paying jobs and protect American families and businesses against the skyrocketing energy costs that are holding back our economy.
America can become energy independent. Thats not a dream; its a reality. But it will take a big change in Washington.
Hutchison a Republican is the senior U.S. senator from Texas.
