While people are continuing to struggle with high gas prices, it makes no sense to continue these counterproductive energy policies that keep American energy off-limits. We need to take control of our own destiny by unleashing our vast energy resources right here in the USA. Developing those resources would create thousands of new jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign sources & keep our money here in America.
New EPA regulations could mean jobs lost in Southwest Virginia
Jul 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Congressman Morgan Griffith is absolutely right. The working men and women of Virginia should not have to suffer at the hands of the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats at the EPA. These backdoor tax hikes have real economic impacts on Virginia families and businesses, destroying jobs and sending electricity rates soaring. The EPA should not have the authority to unilaterally impose harmful regulations that stand in the way of our economic recovery.
New EPA regulations could mean jobs lost in Southwest Virginia
TriCities.com
By Cameron Crapps
July 07, 2011
The Environmental Protection Agency issued new standards for coal burning power plants in 28 states. The new rules, issued Thursday, will cut smokestack emissions reducing soot, smog, and acid rain.
The EPA says the new regulations will cost utilities less than $1 billion a year. According to the New York Times, the EPS also says the cleaner air would prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks, and hundreds of thousands of cases of asthma every year.
But not everybody likes the idea. Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith said in a statement, “The EPA is back at it again. More overreaching regulations, more jobs lost…All indications are that they will hurt jobs in Southwest Virginia.” He goes on to say, “These rules will cause electric rates to increase significantly, thus making it harder to do business and create jobs.”
The new regulations are also a concern of Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of Alpha Natural Resources. He reiterates the same concerns about electricity rates going up, saying they could rise by 25 percent.
The Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011
Jul 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Allowing safe energy exploration and production off the coast of Virginia is a positive step that will help increase our energy security, create thousands of jobs and generate millions in new revenue that can be used to improve roads and transportation infrastructure. I commend Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner for introducing legislation that will boost Virginia’s economy and help reduce energy costs in the long-term.
America has the most plentiful energy resources in the world, and it’s time to overturn these counterproductive energy policies that have put Virginia’s vast oil and natural gas resources off-limits. With gasoline prices near $4 a gallon this spring, creating real hardships for Virginia families, we cannot continue to let these resources sit idle. Doing so only increases our reliance on foreign countries and makes America more vulnerable to supply disruptions overseas.
I urge Congress to act swiftly to pass this commonsense, bipartisan proposal that will allow Virginia to access and develop our own energy resources. The people of Virginia, not Washington, should take control of our Commonwealth’s economic and energy destiny. Washington needs to get out of the way and let Virginia chart our course to energy freedom. .
Statement of George Allen on the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011
Jul 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 6, 2011
Statement of George Allen on the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011
Richmond, VA – George Allen issued the following statement today on the introduction of The Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011, which will restore offshore drilling and lease sales off the coast of Virginia.
“Allowing safe energy exploration and production off the coast of Virginia is a positive step that will help increase our energy security, create thousands of jobs and generate millions in new revenue that can be used to improve roads and transportation infrastructure. I commend Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner for introducing legislation that will boost Virginia’s economy and help reduce energy costs in the long-term.
“America has the most plentiful energy resources in the world, and it’s time to overturn these counterproductive energy policies that have put Virginia’s vast oil and natural gas resources off-limits. With gasoline prices near $4 a gallon this spring, creating real hardships for Virginia families, we cannot continue to let these resources sit idle. Doing so only increases our reliance on foreign countries and makes America more vulnerable to supply disruptions overseas.
“I urge Congress to act swiftly to pass this commonsense, bipartisan proposal that will allow Virginia to access and develop our own energy resources. The people of Virginia, not Washington, should take control of our Commonwealth’s economic and energy destiny. Washington needs to get out of the way and let Virginia chart our course to energy freedom.”
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Shell Game Is Not an Energy Policy
Jul 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This Administration needs to stop playing political games with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and start reversing the counterproductive policies keeping our energy resources off-limits. America has the most plentiful energy resources in the world. Using our strategic reserve to provide short-term relief for high gasoline prices is unwise and irresponsible. Americans deserve long-term energy solutions that reduce gasoline prices, lower electricity costs and take control of our own energy future – not the same Washington sleight-of-hand political fixes that just kick the problem down the road.
Shell Game Is Not an Energy Policy
David Kreutzer
July 1, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Releasing 30 million barrels of petroleum from strategic reserves is not an energy policy, and it is not an especially useful response to either short-run or long-run pressures on gasoline prices. Because the release is scheduled to stop in 30 days, market adjustments will partially offset the release’s impact in the short run. And in the long run, there is no additional output. In fact, the current released oil will need to be replaced in the future.
Most of OPEC is producing at capacity, so the notion that it is an effective cartel is suspect. Even if it were an effective cartel, the real threat to its dominance would be a sustained increase in production, not a shell-game swapping of petroleum reserves.
The U.S. has about 1.08 billion barrels of petroleum reserves—about 725 million of which are in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The remaining barrels are privately controlled and are used to buffer short-run changes in demand and to hedge against price changes. If traders think prices will rise, they hold more in private reserves to sell later at the higher price. If traders think prices will fall, they sell reserves to take advantage of the relatively higher current price.
From the beginning of the year until the third week in May, private crude oil reserves rose by more than 40 million barrels, with nearly 17 million barrels added in the final five weeks. In the month that followed, the reserves declined by 14 million barrels. Though current reserves are high compared to historical averages, they are not within 30 million barrels of their peak.
Gas Prices Drive Fewer to Travel, More to Fly for July 4th
Jul 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
AAA is reporting that high gasoline prices are forcing more people to stay home. This just one more example on why the federal gov’t needs to unleash our energy resources to provide long-term relief at the pump. America has the most plentiful energy resources in the world. On this 4th of July I’ll be supporting energy freedom – the freedom to access and produce our own American energy and take control of our destiny.
Gas Prices Drive Fewer to Travel, More to Fly for July 4th
Reuters
By Wendell Marsh
July 2, 2011
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fewer Americans will hit the road during the Independence day weekend, consistently one of the heaviest travel periods of the year, but more are expected to take to the skies to reach their holiday destinations.
Between Thursday June 30 and Monday July 4, 39 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home, according to AAA Independence Day forecast. That is a 2.5 percent decrease from last year.
“AAA is projecting a slight decline in the number of Independence Day travelers mainly due to fuel prices being approximately one dollar per gallon higher than last year,” director of AAA Travel Services Glen MacDonell said in a statement.
A gallon of gasoline averaged $3.55 on Friday. On the same day last year the average cost of a gallon was $2.75, according to AAA.
“Increased fuel costs are also responsible for a shift in the demographics of the typical Independence Day traveler as higher prices impact lower income households more significantly,” MacDonell said.
White House Oil Epiphany
Jun 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Excellent analysis by the Wall Street Journal reinforcing the need to unleash our own energy resources. In order to reduce gasoline prices over the long-term, America must open up the vast oil fields in Alaska and lift the senseless moratorium on drilling in the Gulf. America has the most plentiful energy resources in the world. We should not be forced to rely on our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while billions of barrels of American oil remain off-limits to production.
White House Oil Epiphany
Wall Street Journal
June 24, 2011
It wasn’t long ago that the Obama Administration was trying to drive up the price of fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions, promote “green jobs” and save the planet from global warming. Gasoline at $3.50 or $4 a gallon has ended that. And yesterday the White House went so far as to join a global effort to release 60 million barrels from oil stockpiles to further reduce prices.
The U.S. will release one million barrels a day for 30 days from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—the nation’s 727 million barrel oil stockpile located in salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. The spot price of oil dropped about $5 a barrel on the news, and if that decrease holds it could be the equivalent of a 10 cent a gallon reduction in gas prices.
The White House says it is taking this action because of “supply disruptions” in Libya and other countries which pose a threat to global economic recovery. But the Libyan conflict is now four months old, so Mr. Obama’s falling approval ratings no doubt also provided motivation.
Senate fails to halt ethanol tax breaks
Jun 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I have long maintained our biofuel mandates have become unrealistic and drive up the cost of our food and feed. I commend Senator Coburn’s amendment to end the tax breaks and subsidies for ethanol. Using food and feed for fuel is like busting up your furniture to put in your wood stove to heat your home and wonder why you are sitting on the floor.
Senate fails to halt ethanol tax breaks
CNN
Charles Riley
June 14, 2011
Ethanol subsidies are still alive and kickin’.
The Senate rejected an amendment Tuesday that would have put an abrupt stop to tax breaks and incentives for corn-based ethanol products popular with farm-state lawmakers.
Introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn, a cantankerous Oklahoman known as “Dr. No,” the amendment fell short, failing in a 40-to-59 procedural vote as members of both parties joined in opposition to the measure. Sixty votes were needed for passage.
Coburn, a conservative Republican, framed the elimination of ethanol subsidies as a responsible way to cut the nation’s deficit, and found himself allied with some unusual bedfellows: environmentalists.
“Eliminating the ethanol tax earmark and tariff would be a big step toward restoring fiscal sanity in Washington,” Coburn said in a statement. “Ethanol is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy.”
Environmental advocates have long questioned the ecological benefit of ethanol, which is blended with gasoline, claiming that it takes as much energy to produce as it yields.
The federal tax subsidy, currently 45 cents a gallon, expires on Dec. 31. Given the current cost-cutting mood in Washington, locking down an extension is far from certain despite the strong support it enjoys from powerful farm-state lawmakers.
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Prices at gas pump painful for 4 in 10 Americans
May 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Over the last week we have seen several polls that have told us what we already know – high gas prices are affecting our families budgets and how we live. Washington needs to stop ignoring the concerns of Virginians and start passing common sense solutions that will utilize all of our American energy resources, create American jobs and keep our money here in the United States. Join me by signing our energy petition to fight against Washington’s counterproductive energy policies.
Prices at gas pump painful for 4 in 10 Americans
The Associated Press
May 20, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — As $4 a gallon gasoline becomes commonplace, drivers have made tough choices: scaling back vacations, driving less or ditching the car altogether. And a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows the impact of sustained high prices is spreading among seniors and higher-income Americans.
According to the poll, the share of all Americans who say increases in the price of gasoline will cause serious financial hardship for them or their families in the next six months now tops 4 in 10.
Overall, 71 percent said rising prices will cause some hardship for them and their families, including 41 percent who called it a “serious” hardship. Just 29 percent said rising prices are not causing a negative impact on their finances.
While those with household incomes under $50,000 were already feeling strained in March, the new poll shows financial pain is increasingly spreading to those with higher incomes. Among those with annual household incomes over $50,000, 63 percent now say rising prices are causing them financial hardship, up from 55 percent in March.
For older Americans, it’s worse.
The share of seniors expressing financial hardship over gas prices hit 76 percent; it was 68 percent in March.
Nettie Cash, 65, of Dallas, Ga., is cutting back on her medicine because of the cost of fueling up her Buick. Cash is still taking her heart pills but is forgoing her inhaler and ulcer medicine for now.
“It’s not easy,” she said. “You have to do what you have to do.”
The public’s coping strategies are largely unchanged from March, with 72 percent having cut back on other expenses, 66 percent saying they’ve reduced the amount of driving they do and 48 percent changing vacation plans.
Since January, gas prices have shot up about 90 cents, with the national average for a gallon of regular this week at $3.96.
Washington is Standing in the Way of Utilizing Our American Energy Resources
May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Once again, Tim Kaine’s liberal allies in the U.S. Senate are standing in the way of Virginians seeking the freedom to safely explore for oil and natural gas. By voting against Senator McConnell’s bill, Senator Harry Reid and his liberal followers in Washington made it clear that they are more interested in finding taxes to fuel their wasteful spending than they are in finding energy to fuel America’s economy. This bill would have been a modest first step in increasing our American energy supplies and creating jobs here in Virginia. As families and businesses continue to suffer the effects of $4/gallon gasoline prices, Virginians deserve a leader who will stand up to Washington’s anti-energy policies, not aide them in their political games. The sooner Washington reverses its counterproductive energy policies, the sooner we will be able to unleash the plentiful resources sitting under our land and water and start producing affordable American energy, creating American jobs, protecting our national security and keeping our money in the United States.
