Boozman Expresses Support for Development of Offshore Energy Resources Signs onto Letter to Interior Secretary

Press Release

Boozman Expresses Support for Development of Offshore Energy Resources
Signs onto Letter to Interior Secretary

U.S. Representative John Boozman today signed onto a letter with more than 95 other lawmakers in requesting that the Administration support the five-year draft program to develop offshore energy resources.

Exploration of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) helps decrease America's dependence on foreign energy. Minerals Management Service and the Bureau of Land Management estimate 18 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil are available on the OCS and billions to trillions of barrels of oil in American oil shale.

The following is text of the letter sent to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar:

Last year, rising energy prices put middle-class families, small businesses and all sectors of our economy under tremendous strain. As a result, Congress and President Bush removed the moratoria on Outer Continental Shelf development which had been in place for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, the new Administration immediately took action in February to prevent offshore drilling by delaying the Minerals Management Service's Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil & Gas Leasing Program for 2010 to 2015.

As your Department collects opinions from Americans about the draft offshore drilling plan, we write to register our strong support for expanded offshore drilling. As elected officials who represent citizens who are struggling because of rising energy costs and highest unemployment rate in decades, we believe that the draft proposed plan is a critically important step in creating a robust national energy policy and strengthening our economy. At a time when 14.7 million Americans are out of work, it is more important than ever that the federal government move forward with this plan to responsibly develop our energy supply, create new energy jobs, lower energy costs, and decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

By offering new leasing opportunities in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - as well as in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico - the proposed plan is appropriately expansive, provides maximum flexibility to properly utilize all of our nation's domestic resources, and helps coastal communities pursue leasing and development of their coastlines. Important offshore areas, like those in Alaska, offer tremendous natural gas and oil resources. By some estimates the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska's coast, contains as much natural gas and oil as the country has produced in the Gulf of Mexico since 1942. The Administration should not continue to stay in the way of American energy development.

Additionally, we hope that the Minerals Management Service will continue to move forward with the 2007-2012 Leasing Program for all available leasing areas, including the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and offshore Alaska.

In conclusion, we urge the Department to open new leasing areas included in the 2010-2015 draft proposed offshore plan and responsibly develop the abundant energy resources off our coasts.

This is the second letter in support of OCS exploration signed by Congressman Boozman since February.

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