Whitfield Breaks Ranks to Tap Into American Energy Supplies to Drive Down Fuel Costs | News | Congressman Ed Whitfield

News | Congressman Ed Whitfield | United States Representative

Whitfield Breaks Ranks to Tap Into American Energy Supplies to Drive Down Fuel Costs July 24, 2008 WASHINGTON - U. S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) broke ranks with members of his party today to support legislation which would have made a limited amount of oil reserves currently being held by the U.S. government available to consumers in order to drive down record-breaking fuel costs.

"While families in Kentucky's First Congressional District are paying $3.90 a gallon to fill up their vehicles, the government is sitting on more than 700 million barrels of oil," Whitfield said. "There is no reason why a limited amount of this supply cannot be used to aid consumers paying skyrocketing prices at the pump."

Whitfield voted for H.R. 6578, the Consumer Energy Supply Act of 2008. The legislation would allow the sale of light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and replace it with heavy grade petroleum. While the legislation garnered 268 votes in support, it did not receive the 2/3 vote necessary to pass under suspension of the House rules.

The legislation Whitfield supported would have made at least 20 million barrels of oil available for sale within sixty days of enactment and required the Secretary of Energy to publish a plan for the sale of 70 million barrels of oil. To ensure the SPR does not become severely diminished, the legislation would have required the sale of oil from the SPR to stop when the reserve contained less than 90 percent of the amount it held prior to the beginning of the sale.

The SPR, an emergency petroleum store maintained by the United States Department of Energy, is the largest emergency supply in the world. The government obtains this oil in lieu of royalties that would otherwise be paid by producers who pump it from federal land. The United State's SPR has the capacity to hold 726 million barrels of oil. Currently, the reserve is 97% full holding 701 million barrels, equal to nearly two months of oil imports.

Earlier this year, Whitfield voted to suspend the acquisition of petroleum for the SPR. The legislation would free up more oil to flow into the open market and, as a result, reduce the cost of gasoline. While there is no way to tell exactly how much this legislation would lower gas prices, many experts say it could reduce the cost by 5 to 24 cents a gallon.

Whitfield recognizes that while this tapping into the SPR will provide some limited relief at the pump for Kentucky drivers, a long-term solution is needed to combat the nation's energy crisis. For this reason, Whitfield has introduced legislation, the End the Pain at the Pump Act, which would provide a tax rebate roughly equivalent to the price of 1/3 of a gallon of gas for workers who use their personal vehicles to drive to and from work. The legislation would also grow the country's fuel supply for the long term by expediting the approval of refinery permits and opening additional areas to environmentally responsible drilling.

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