Walberg to Pelosi: House Needs To Act Now on Gas Prices
Press Release
Walberg to Pelosi: House Needs To Act Now on Gas Prices
U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) today sent the following letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging Congressional action to bring down high gas prices. The full letter is also available at http://walberg.house.gov/blog/?p=250.
July 17, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Madam Speaker:
I respectfully urge you to allow the House of Representatives to vote on legislation to increase American energy production, so America can become energy independent and to bring down prices at the pump. Energy prices have skyrocketed, the economy has slowed, and hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing from the pockets of American families into the treasuries of nations who wish America ill. Yet you have still not allowed a vote in the House of Representatives to increase American energy production.
To solve America's energy crisis, the House of Representatives needs to act now. A number of pieces of legislation have been introduced to increase American energy production by immediately allowing more oil and natural gas exploration, building new refineries and nuclear power plants, encouraging renewable energy development, and advancing technological innovations. I have listed a few for your consideration. As you are probably aware, some of them have had discharge petitions filed so they can immediately be brought up for debate.
- H.R. 3089 The No More Excuses Energy Act (Thornberry - TX)
- H.R. 6107 The American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act (Young - AK)
- H.R. 2784 The National Environment and Energy Development Act (Peterson - PA)
- H.R. 2208 The Coal Liquid Fuel Act (Boucher - WV)
- H.R. 6138 Repeals the ban on using funds to issue oil shale regulations (Upton - MI)
Each of these bills contains innovative solutions to not only increase our production capacity, but also to embrace new technologies.
Gas prices are incredibly high and are affecting families, businesses, and our communities. I urge you to allow votes to increase American energy production and move our nation on a path toward energy independence before Congress leaves for a month long break. Families that want to take a vacation will not experience a break, businesses fighting to make it in a tough economy will not experience a break, and police departments forced to cut back patrols will not experience a break.
I implore you to bring these reasonable proposals to the House floor in the next week to move America towards energy independence and to create more American jobs. I look forward to working together and engaging in a forthright debate that will give the American people a chance to have their voices heard, and most importantly, to act immediately to solve America's energy crisis. Thank you for consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
Tim Walberg
Member of Congress
Walberg introduced a discharge petition in June to bring the No More Excuses Energy Act, legislation to increase U.S. energy production and invest in alternative sources of energy, to the House floor for a vote. House rules state that a discharge petition must have 218 signatures (a simple majority) in order to bring a bill to the floor for a vote. 154 members have signed the petition so far.
The No More Excuses Energy Act (H.R. 3089):
- Encourages new refinery construction and makes federal lands available for refinery construction.
- Reduces green house emissions by encouraging the capture of CO2 from marginal oil wells.
- Boosts alternative energy development by extending the Wind Production Tax Credit for 10 years.
- Lifts the Congressional Moratoria on exploring the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), potentially providing 17 billion barrels of oil.
- Opens the ANWR to responsible exploration, potentially producing nearly a million barrels per day for several decades.
- Encourages investment in a much-needed industrial base for building modern nuclear power plants.
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