America Must Have More American-Made Energy

America Must Have More American-Made Energy
December 15, 2005

*Letter by Congressman Richard W. Pombo (CA-11), sent with 54 signatories to the House Republican Conference.

Washington - As energy prices skyrocketed and oil imports reportedly hit a record-breaking $28 billion for the month of September, 57 Republican Members of Congress penned a letter to their entire House Conference late last night reiterating the urgent need to increase American supplies of energy in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and calling for complete party unity to open ANWR for this purpose.

The members wrote that, to date, Congress' failure to increase domestics supplies of energy to lower prices for American families, "has put it in a position that does not distinguish itself from OPEC, which is in the business of deliberately restricting supplies to drive up prices." The entire letter from the Members follows:

Click here for letter with signatures.

Dear Republican Colleague:

Conferees will soon meet to craft a report on the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. We write today to remind you how critical safe energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is to cutting the federal budget deficit, strengthening the economy and lowering energy prices for American families.

For the purposes of this Act, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that developing ANWR's massive energy resources on just 2000 acres of its northern coastal plain would generate $2.5 billion for the federal government over the next five years. Last week, given global energy demand and skyrocketing costs of energy, CBO reported that if oil prices were $45 or more in 2010, they would expect that number to double to $5 billion. That is $5 billion Uncle Sam would not have to raise from the taxpayers themselves or cut from important programs.

But the savings and benefits will not stop there. Because energy is the lifeblood of the economy, each barrel of oil and cubic foot of natural gas produced right here at home generates a tremendous amount of economic fertilizer. This comes in the form of lower prices, the creation of good jobs, and capital investment that strengthens all sectors of our economy.

At today's energy prices, ANWR's 10.4 billion barrels of undeveloped oil (mean estimate) represent a nearly $650 Billion economic decision: Should we invest in the American workforce, American technology and greater energy self-sufficiency, or should we continue to send this capital overseas to fuel foreign nations? It is just that simple.

Many American labor organizations, such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers International Union of North America, the AFL-CIO -- Building Trades Department, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the Seafarers International Union and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have joined us in support safe energy development in ANWR because they know the answer. Investing at home will create hundreds of thousands of good jobs and help lower prices for their working families at the same time. And with 21 st century technologies, they know it can de done in an environmentally-sensitive, wildlife-friendly fashion. Thirty years of energy development in Prudhoe Bay, just seventy miles to the west of ANWR on Alaska's coastal plain, have proven this to be true.

All human activity comes with at least some environmental impact, but in the case of ANWR, innovative techniques such as ice roads and ice pads will allow highly trained experts to conduct their work with minimal effects on the frozen arctic tundra below. In addition, 3-D seismic, 4-D visualization and remote sensing technologies drastically reduce the number of wells required to develop this vast resource, thereby lessening the amount of surface disturbance required to less than .01 percent of ANWR's 20 million acres. That is an area smaller than Washington's Dulles Airport.

Ironically, the Clinton Administration's landmark report, Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Technology, documents these and many other American innovations that now make energy development and environmental protection mutually achievable - not mutually exclusive - especially in remote, frigid locations like Alaska's northern coastal plain.

Had President Clinton not vetoed our deficit reduction bill in 1995, which included ANWR energy, the United States might now be reaping the benefits of nearly 1.5 million barrels of additional energy supplies per day. That is an amount equal the entire world's daily excess supply, the daily American production we lost in the Gulf due to the recent hurricanes, and roughly the amount we import from Saudi Arabia every day. And when you consider the fact that ANWR's 10.4 billion barrels (mean estimate) could increase America's total proven energy reserves (21 billion barrels) by almost 50 percent, the importance of these resources simply cannot be understated or refuted.

This is especially true in light of the Department of Energy's recent Annual Energy Outlook report, which increased the projected price of future energy by 61%. If China and India's skyrocketing consumption of global energy supplies and the resulting increases in prices have not served as a wake-up call for lawmakers to increase supplies of American energy, this report must serve as such, or else the worst is truly yet to come for our economy and our consumers.

As you know, we have already spoken on this issue, passing legislation to approve American energy development in ANWR not once, but four times since 2001. We did this with the help of roughly forty pro-labor and pro American-energy Democrats. Unfortunately, partisan politics has prevented these Democrats from joining us now. And while we hope this good policy will earn their support in a final conference report, hope does not solve American energy problems. It is critical that we remain united.

We all know that we must open new, taxpayer-owned areas for safe energy development in order to increase American supplies and lower prices for American families. To fight these efforts is to keep taxpayer-owned energy resources under lock and key, make existing resource supplies tighter and tighter, and keep prices on the rise. In fact, Congress' failure open these supplies for development has put it in a position that does not distinguish itself from OPEC, which is in the business of deliberately restricting supplies to drive up prices. This must change. It is time for Congress to look itself in the mirror.

And it should. As the world's leader in technology and innovation, we know that putting Americans to work can deliver us more energy with minimal environmental impact. To fight this effort and continue to import our needs from countries with inferior technology and fewer environmental safeguards is hypocritical in our global environment.

For all of these reasons, and in the words of a former U.S. Senator and former ANWR energy opponent, James F. Buckley of New York, to continue to deny ourselves the benefits of this massive American energy resource is "economic and strategic masochism." We can no longer afford to watch as our airline, transport and manufacturing jobs disappear to foreign countries because of skyrocketing energy costs. We must act, and we must act now.

This nation has made great strides in developing policies for smart energy conservation, efficiency and renewable fuel resources. And we certainly need to do more. We have also invested billions of dollars in the development of alternative fuels and long-term solutions. And we certainly need to do more for tomorrow, but we absolutely must do something today to increase America's energy self-sufficiency.

ANWR is not the silver bullet in this regard, but it is clearly the biggest artillery shell we have at home in the fight for less foreign dependence and more reliable, affordable supplies of energy. American families and our economy alike can not afford to conserve their way out of an empty tank of gas. We need American supplies to grow and prosper now and for the foreseeable future.

If we can not do this in a state whose people support it, in an area whose only residents - the Inupiat Eskimos of Kaktovik - support it, and which contains the single largest American energy resource ever discovered, where can we do it? We have another opportunity to say ‘yes' to energy solutions, and we thank you for your continued support of our collective efforts to improve the quality of life for all Americans. This is, without question, the right thing to do.

http://www.house.gov/pombo/press/press2005/dec15_05.htm