Where’s the energy?

Congressman Sam Graves wants Congress to enact an energy bill that increases domestic exploration, helps create refineries and promotes proven technologies like clean coal and nuclear power.
Unfortunately, the “energy” plan brought to the floor today does not contain any of those solutions to America’s energy crunch. The bill, in fact, would be a step backwards by sticking consumers with higher prices and reckless spending that has nothing to do with energy.
The bill includes over $3 billion in funding for projects like: completing a rainforest in Iowa and financing a speaking tour for Al Gore and his movie.
“It’s an assault on the English language to call this an energy bill,” said Graves. “I don’t know what a rainforest in Iowa or promoting Al Gore’s movie have to do with lowering energy costs.”
Graves supports increasing the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards to 35 mpg by 2020. However, the bill does not include access to 2 trillion barrels of oil shale, 1.6 billion barrels of off-shore oil and 10 billion barrels from the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The bill also does not include oil production on the Continental Shelf hundreds of miles off the Florida coast, even though Cuba and China are collaborating to drill closer to Florida’s beaches than any American company can.
“Limiting supply, when demand is increasing, will only lead to higher prices at the pump” said Graves. “Consumers will end up paying more because leadership has failed to address domestic production.”
The bill does include $200 million in energy assistance for countries like China and India to develop energy technologies, purchase oil and increase coal plants. At the same time, it increases taxes on American oil companies who are exploring for and producing American oil.
“The only people who seem to benefit from this bill live in China and India,” said Graves. “American consumers will be paying more at the pump because Congress has failed to adequately address our energy supply problem.”
H.R. 6 passed by a narrow majority and will be sent to the U.S. Senate.