McKeon: Under Democrat Congress, Americans Pay Record Prices at the Pump

Press Release

At a press conference today, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) discussed Democrat inaction on the skyrocketing cost of gasoline and the arduous toll the increase is taking on Californians. While visiting the Chevron Gas Station and Auto Spa in Valencia, California, McKeon also highlighted the Republican energy plan. The current average price for regular unleaded is an astounding $3.94 per gallon.

"From the time Democrats first took control of Congress, gas prices have risen more than 60 percent. The ‘Pelosi Premium' is hitting Americans hard, diminishing their family budgets and forcing them to scale back everything from summer travel to basic necessities. Current gas prices are at record highs, and projections for the future appear to only get worse as long as we stay on the same course. Despite all that, we've heard of no solutions from Democrat leadership, nor have we seen any indication that they will change our current course of action. Americans are feeling the squeeze from every direction and are looking to Congress for answers."

Last week, House Republicans unveiled an energy plan that offers meaningful solutions for American families to increase the supply of American energy, improve energy efficiency, and encourage investment in alternative and renewable energy technologies.

"Republicans recognize that hardworking Americans need relief, and that's why we have outlined an ambitious agenda to increase American-made energy, bring down gas prices, and move toward energy independence."

How Republican Solutions Will Bring Down Gas Prices:

The Change America Deserves: Meeting Our Energy Needs with American Made Energy.

* The comprehensive House Republican plan will fund research and development of technologies and innovations which advance the use of renewable and domestically available energy sources, increase energy efficiency, and ease the environmental impacts of energy use.

1. Increasing the Production of American-Made Energy in an Environmentally-Safe Way
* Support actions that reduce America's dependence on energy from unstable foreign governments and dictatorships by increasing environmentally-safe production of oil and natural gas in areas such as the arctic coastal plain and in deep ocean energy resources; and
* Promote unconventional fuels such as coal-to-liquids technology and recovering our vast oil shale reserves by;
* Increasing access for environmentally responsible development of conventional and unconventional domestic oil and natural gas production;
* Providing coal-to-liquids financing and tax incentives;
* Advancing the commercialization of the nation's two trillion barrel shale oil resource, 80 percent of which occurs on government-owned land in the West. This is enough to supply all of America's needs for over two centuries.
2. Promoting New, Clean, and Reliable Sources of Energy
* Encourage more production of environmentally-safe energy to increase the use of our vast domestic supply, reduce emissions, and keep coal-dependent communities strong; and
* Expand emissions-free nuclear power, including long term nuclear waste storage solutions and recycling spent fuel by:
* Providing production and investment tax credits for all new base-load electricity projects such as advanced nuclear power and clean coal; and
* Allowing immediate expensing for new renewable or zero emission power.
3. Cutting Red Tape and Increase the Supply of American-Made Fuel and Energy
* Expedite permitting for enhanced oil recovery projects, including CO2 delivery and injection, as well as permitting for new refining capacity;
* Improve environmental review and permitting to encourage the deployment of technologies which increase the efficiency of existing power plants; and
* End ill-advised policies that have led to the proliferation of unique gasoline and diesel fuel formulations known as "boutique fuels," which have fragmented our motor fuels distribution system, choked off supply, and exacerbated the already-painful Pelosi Premium.
4. Encouraging Greater Energy Efficiency by Offering Conservation Tax Incentives
* Support technologies to help increase energy efficiency in all sectors of the American economy, including removing bureaucratic regulatory barriers that prevent businesses from upgrading their facilities with newer, more efficient energy technologies, by:
* Making home energy efficiency upgrades tax deductable;
* Providing incentives for home builders and homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient;
* Offering investment expensing for industrial and commercial building efficiency upgrades;
* Extending the residential and business solar and fuel cell investment tax credits, with enhancements to the residential solar credit ($2,000 per ½ kw installed);
* Extending the fiber-optic distributed sunlight investment tax credit; and
* Increasing the energy efficiency of government-owned buildings.

McKeon has been out-in-front on the issue and asking Speaker Pelosi to finally reveal the "common sense" plan she promised America in 2006 before taking office as Speaker of the House. House Republicans created a video outlining the broken promise by Democrats to address the issue and highlight the Pelosi Premium Americans are now paying at the pump.

Source