Buying oil from foreign nations makes no sense
Spending $1.2 billion per day to buy oil from foreign countries, when we have significant oil reserves right here at home, simply makes no sense. Instead, we should be pursuing energy independence as aggressively as possible. Not that long ago, America produced 60% of the oil we consumed.
Today we produce only 30%, forcing us to import the rest.Our reliance on foreign oil is not only risky from a national security standpoint, it also puts us at the mercy of foreign oil cartels for the cost of the gasoline and the diesel fuel we need for our daily lives and to keep our economy growing.
Last Monday, I led a delegation of four Members of Congress to Alaska to see the portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) proposed for oil exploration and production. We talked with Alaskans, including the Native people who live on the North Slope, and got their views on whether additional development and production should be permitted.
After spending almost four days in the region, I am more convinced than ever that we need to allow increased oil production there, and do so immediately.
More than seventy percent of Alaskans support responsible development. The Alaskan Natives and their leaders, whom I met and spoke with, talked passionately about their support for allowing oil production from the tiny portion of the Refuge where drilling is being considered. They explained that the Alaskan pipeline and the development at Prudhoe Bay had dramatically improved their lives and meant that their children could have access to the education and opportunities available to other Americans.They want development to be environmentally responsible, and having seen what has occurred at Prudhoe Bay, they are confident it can and will be.
Those who oppose allowing additional production claim that development will hurt caribou in the area. However, the size of the caribou herd in and around Prudhoe Bay has grown from roughly 7,000 before the pipeline was built to nearly 30,000 now.
The caribou have in fact adapted and prospered.
It is estimated that there are between 7.7 and 11.8 billion barrels of oil in the portion of ANWR proposed for development. That is enough to displace 10% of our daily imports.
The Wildlife Refuge itself is huge. Its size was doubled in 1980 from roughly 8.9 million acres to 19 million acres. The legislation doubling the size of the Refuge set aside a small portion, called the 10-02 area, named after a section of the law that designated it, to be studied for oil and gas development. However the studies done to date indicate that the most likely concentrations of oil lie under only a small portion of the 10-02 area. Actual development would be limited to less than 2,000 acres -- an area smaller than the footprint of Sky Harbor Airport.
While few Americans will ever be able to visit this extremely remote area, we were able to see first hand that the assertions by opponents, that the area is rugged, mountainous and strikingly beautiful, are simply wrong. The closest mountains are between 40 and 90 miles
away. The closest trees are more than 100 miles away. As can be seen by the photos on my website, the area where development could occur, known as the "coastal plain," is essentially flat tundra interspersed with small streams and ponds.
Experts believe that allowing oil production in the area of ANWR set aside by Congress in 1980 for oil exploration and production, would result in 750,000 jobs in Alaska and across America.
I believe producing more American-made energy will bring down the cost of oil and the price of gasoline we pay at the pump everyday. While the price of gas is an inconvenience for some, it is a threat to the livelihood of millions of America's last well-off, who struggle each day just to get by. But, even if gas prices didn't come down, producing energy from our own resources would mean more jobs for American workers. It simply makes no sense to buy oil from foreign cartels, creating jobs for Saudi Arabian, Russian and Venezuelan workers. Even more important, we shouldn't spend a single dollar to buy oil from foreign countries and oil cartels who are either not our friends or who support our enemies.
We must immediately implement an "all of the above" energy policy to meet our current energy crisis. It should include increased solar, wind, hydrogen and other renewable technology. But, it must also include development of our own oil and natural gas resources including the vast resources in ANWR.
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