The Energy Policy Act of 2005 will save jobs from going overseas, and will create as many as half a million new jobs for Americans. This bill has been signed into law by President Bush.  The Gas Act, passed by the House and pending in the Senate, seeks to lower gasoline prices within the market system without resorting to price controls.

Congress has also addressed the increasing costs of natural gas.  It has passed legislation that requires a natural gas inventory for the Outer Continental Shelf to help lawmakers and private industry to gain an accurate understanding of just how much natural gas is located off our nation’s coastline.  There are also bills before the House, such as H.R. 4318, the Outer Continental Shelf Natural Gas Relief Act, which would allow states to decide if they wanted to allow for natural gas leasing off of their coasts. 

In addition to finding ways to increase the supply of natural gas, Congress has addressed the commodities speculation process which arbitrarily causes natural gas prices to increase based simply on commodity traders’ speculation. In the GAS Act, the FTC is not required to prepare a report on how the New York Mercantile Exchange prices oil and natural gas. Additionally, on December 14, 2005, the House passed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Reauthorization Act of 2005. This bill includes provisions to remedy regulatory issues left unresolved following the enactment of Commodity Futures Modernization Act or have arisen recently regarding futures market volatility and increasing market prices in natural gas markets. The natural gas provision clarifies the surveillance and record keeping authorities of CFTC to better ensure the transparency of the natural gas futures markets. This provision charges the CFTC with preventing and detecting manipulation of the natural gas markets, outlines increased record keeping requirements for large traders operating on the exchanges, and increases the civil and criminal penalties for violations. Rep. Myrick fully supports this effort so that there is meaningful oversight to prohibit market manipulations which are unethical, possibly illegal, and detrimental to consumers.

Congress has also passed legislation that will further fund LIHEAP, a program that provides energy assistance, such as high natural gas prices, for low-income households.  On December 22, 2005, Congress passed legislation that would provide LIHEAP with $2.183 billion in 2006.  Additionally, the House passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, still pending in the Senate, which also includes an additional $1 billion for LIHEAP.

Highlights of the Energy Policy Act are:

 ·      Expansion of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power to help keep energy costs low. 

·        Promotes conservation through new energy efficiency standards, and through incentives for hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

·        Upgrades and updates our national electricity grid to prevent future blackouts. 

·        Encourages clean-burning natural gas, and eases regulations on natural gas production. Due to current regulations, natural gas prices in the U.S. are 10 times higher than in other countries.  This bill will simplify regulations so that more natural gas can be refined and can be sent to consumers at a cheaper price.

·        Reduces our dependence upon foreign sources for oil.  It will allow for more domestic production of oil and will create or expand oil refineries in economically depressed areas; both of which will help keep future oil prices low. 

For more information please click here to view a brochure about the bill.

Highlights of the GAS Act (2005):
(Bill passed by the House.)

• The plan takes action to lower the cost of gasoline over the mid- and long-term, and addresses important national security concerns that we now face due to our increasing reliance on foreign oil.
   

• In conjunction with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the GAS Act addresses important issues to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of refined petroleum products and increase American production and conservation efforts.
   

• Specifically, the GAS Act:

o    Encourages new refineries to increase supply and address soaring gasoline prices;

o    Limits “boutique fuels” that have propped up gasoline process by artificially limiting supply;

o    Promotes new pipelines to get new crude oil and refined     product to consumers at lower prices;

o    Bans price gouging in gasoline or diesel fuel sales; and

o    Requires a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study into credit card company processing fees, which may inflate consumer costs.