America’s Energy Freedom
Thursday, August 21st, 2008By George Allen
August 21, 2008
Richmond Times-Dispatch
God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution are the most sacred tenets of our Republic. In order to remain a free, sovereign, and prosperous nation, we must be able to defend, feed, and fuel ourselves. Our continued dependence on foreign countries threatens our freedom and prosperity.
The recent crisis in Georgia shows how Russia can hold free and independent countries in Central and Western Europe hostage because of their dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. If the Russians had successfully attacked the B-T-C pipeline through Georgia, the world price of oil would have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, we are sending $700 billion a year out of our country to often hostile dictators, oligarchs, and cartels. John McCain believes that America must decide that we will declare our energy independence and he has proposed a comprehensive, strategic solution to attain American energy security.
The price of energy is an issue affecting our national security, economic competitiveness, and standard of living. A logical, and long overdue, step in McCain’s plan toward American energy security is opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to energy exploration — a plan nearly 70 percent of Americans support. In Virginia, we’ve been fighting to get out from under the federal moratorium for more than five years.
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