Issue Position: Gas Prices

Issue Position

Soaring gas prices have become an overwhelming burden on families throughout the United States, and particularly for those of us in Southern California that must rely on our vehicles to take us most anywhere we need to go. However, increased worldwide oil consumption and uncertainty in oil supplies have left consumers in the United States exceptionally vulnerable to any disruptions in production and distribution of foreign supplies. As our Nation relies on foreign countries to supply approximately 60 percent of our daily oil consumption it is undeniably clear that we must expand domestic energy production in order to secure our energy and economic future. For this reason Congressman David Dreier has voted to:

* Permit oil and gas exploration on federal lands and waters, including the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and .01 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to unlock more than 96 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas;

* Streamline the refinery permitting process to facilitate the development of new and expand the capacity of existing oil refineries to alleviate the threat of disruptions in the refining process;

* Develop alternative fuels, including biofuels, cellulosic ethanol and coal-to-liquid fuels to ease our reliance on oil as the primary energy source in transportation;

* Temporarily halt oil deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to make available more than 70,000 additional barrels a day and lower current oil prices.

Additionally, Congressman Dreier has voted to promote the development of fuel efficient technologies to ensure that consumers are provided efficient vehicles at an affordable price. Specifically, Congressman Dreier has voted to:

* Provide tax incentives for fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrids;

* Provide federal funds for research and development of advanced technologies, including fuel cells, and invest in infrastructure technologies necessary to bring new vehicles to the market;

* Encourage manufacturers to utilize existing technologies to increase fuel efficiency by raising corporate average fuel economy standards.

Finally, to ensure that consumers are not subjected to any unfair manipulation of the oil markets, Congressman Dreier has voted to prohibit price gouging, and provide civil and criminal penalties for individuals that participate in the activity.

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