Gingrich Calls for an Energy Plan to Keep America Safe

Press Release

Former House Speaker in South Carolina Today to Measure Support for an American Energy Strategy that protects National Security

Newt Gingrich will participate in a series of meetings and events today with Tea Party activists, GOP and other conservative South Carolina leaders to discuss the many challenges facing America and the Palmetto State.

Later in the day, Gingrich will attend a Tea Party Rally at Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston Harbor. There he will join Mike Murphee, President of the Charleston Tea Party, one of the largest Tea Party organizations in South Carolina. Tea Party activists will honor America's Veterans in an event to "Salute the Troops". Gingrich will speak after Medal of Honor winner Gen. James Livingston who lives in South Carolina. Other speakers include Congressman Tim Scott, State Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort), and Mick Zais, Superintendent of Education.

At the event Gingrich will draw a parallel between a sound American energy strategy and keeping America safe. He will outline an "all of the above" energy strategy to in order to create as much energy at the lowest cost, creating the most jobs here at home. He will juxtapose that strategy with the President's current policies which are not only responsible for increasing cost of energy and gasoline but also a direct threat to national security. "The people of South Carolina know that the high cost of gasoline leaves them with less money in their pockets," Gingrich said. "But what really bothers them is that so much of the money that comes out of their pockets goes into the pockets of people who want to destroy America."

Earlier this week, The Washington Times reported that the head of Iran's central bank threatened $150 per barrel oil prices unless sanctions are lifted against their country. Iran is the world's third largest oil exporter.

He will also point out that the president's offshore drilling moratorium, and subsequent "permitorium" in the Gulf of Mexico will lead to the United States producing 220,000 few barrels of oil a day in 2011 and that President Obama policies keeps South Carolina from creating jobs by drilling for natural gas offshore.

Gingrich will call on the GOP to support an "all of the above" American energy policy that seeks to maximize energy production from all sources -- oil, natural gas, wind, biofuels, nuclear, clean coal and more -- and seeks to encourage energy innovation, not discourage energy production. "Contrary to popular belief, America has more energy than any nation on earth," said Gingrich. "All that's keeping us from becoming energy independent is a lack of political will to do so."

Included among the energy proposals to keep America safe, Gingrich will discuss:

* Replace the Environmental Protection Agency, which has become a job-killing regulatory engine of higher energy prices, with an Environmental Solutions Agency that would work cooperatively with local government and industry to achieve better environmental outcomes while considering the impact of federal environmental policies on job creation and the cost of energy.
* End the ban on oil shale development in the American West, where we have three times the amount oil as Saudi Arabia.
* Give coastal states federal royalty revenue sharing so that state's budgets directly benefits from offshore development.
* Enact a loser-pays law to force the losers in environmental lawsuits to pay all legal costs for the prevailing side, which will reduce frivolous lawsuits that are employed simply to stop energy production.
* Finance cleaner energy research and projects with new oil and gas royalties.
* Appoint a commission of engineers and scientists, not politicians, to study the damaged nuclear reactor in Japan and determine if any changes need to be made to US nuclear power standards.

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