California consistently sees the highest
gas prices in the nation and gas prices nationwide continue to trend
upward. In January 2009, the average gallon of gasoline cost
$1.67. Today the same gallon will cost the average American more
than double its value less than four years ago: $3.44. And that is
still a deal compared to the $3.81 we are paying in California!
In case you’ve forgotten the days when we paid $1 for a gallon
– this dramatic increase is not a pattern the United States has
experienced. Eight years ago in January, a gallon of gasoline
was $1.75, 12 years ago it was $1.38, and 16 years ago it was
$1.22.
Our nation’s energy sector is not adequately meeting our nation’s energy needs, hurting American families and American jobs. What is worse, our nation’s energy policy has inadequately and at times adversely affected our ability to produce clean, affordable energy.
In response to gas prices reaching an alarming $4 a gallon in 2008, Congress and the White House acted on a bipartisan basis to overturn the moratoria on new offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Department of Energy in January 2009 released plans for newly-available leases in the OCS, including three very small areas off the coast of California.
Unfortunately, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar slowed the plan’s implementation and eventually reversed the bipartisan plan to provide new exploration opportunities. By failing to include any new areas for offshore exploration, the Administration’s plan has effectively reinstated the moratorium for the next half decade on roughly 85 percent of our 1.71 billion acres of OCS lands. This does not just hurt Americans at the pump, but also the Americans that are looking for employment in the energy industry – including not just the hurting Gulf Coast, but also fragile economies like our own in California.
Therefore, this week the House of Representatives took
up consideration of H.R. 6082, the Congressional Replacement of
President Obama’s Offshore Drilling Plan. This plan would
reinstate exploration opportunities for new energy sources so that we can
get to the business of creating jobs, reducing burdens on the American
people, and building an energy policy of clean, safe, and affordable
domestic energy. I voted for H.R. 6082, which passed the House by
a vote of 253-170, becoming the 33rd House jobs bill that
the Senate needs to act on.
Sincerely,
Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress
Our nation’s energy sector is not adequately meeting our nation’s energy needs, hurting American families and American jobs. What is worse, our nation’s energy policy has inadequately and at times adversely affected our ability to produce clean, affordable energy.
In response to gas prices reaching an alarming $4 a gallon in 2008, Congress and the White House acted on a bipartisan basis to overturn the moratoria on new offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Department of Energy in January 2009 released plans for newly-available leases in the OCS, including three very small areas off the coast of California.
Unfortunately, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar slowed the plan’s implementation and eventually reversed the bipartisan plan to provide new exploration opportunities. By failing to include any new areas for offshore exploration, the Administration’s plan has effectively reinstated the moratorium for the next half decade on roughly 85 percent of our 1.71 billion acres of OCS lands. This does not just hurt Americans at the pump, but also the Americans that are looking for employment in the energy industry – including not just the hurting Gulf Coast, but also fragile economies like our own in California.
Sincerely,
Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress
