ANWR PASSES; KINGSTON VOTES TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL
Bill Would Expand Domestic Energy Supply And Reduce Dependence On Foreign Oil
Washington,
May 25 -
Today, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-GA, the vice-chairman of the House Republican
Conference, took action to address high oil prices by voting for H.R. 5429, The
America-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act.
This legislation authorizes oil and gas
production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offers the opportunity to
reduce our dependence on foreign oil by expanding our domestic energy supply
while at the same time stimulating our economy and creating hundreds of
thousands of new jobs.
“President Bush has said that we are
addicted to oil and he is 100 percent right,” Kingston said. “Our dependence on
foreign oil threatens our national security and distorts global diplomacy. It
is not in America’s interest to remain dependent on leaders like Venezuelan
President Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”
“This legislation is a good step towards
achieving that oil independence. It’s too bad Democrats who have spent years
voting against drilling in ANWR, have refused to take that step with us,”
Kingston concluded.
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THE AMERICAN –MADE
ENERGY AND GOOD JOBS ACT:
Authorizes oil and gas exploration and production in
Alaska’s Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Includes an export ban requiring all oil and natural
gas produced on ANWR’s northern Coastal Plain to say in America.
Permits drilling on approximately 1.5 million acres
while limiting the total surface area covered by drilling and production
facilities to 2,000 acres.
Environmental protections in the bill are the
strictest every applied to a federal energy project, using the most
sophisticated technology available.
Stringent environmental protections include
requirements that the Department of the Interior establish regulations to ensure
that drilling will have no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife and
their habitat.