December 11, 2008
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The Crenshaw Energy Plan: Step 1

Increase Production and Exploration of American Made Energy


July 1, 2008


The law of supply and demand is a common theme in today’s world. When supply is short and demand is high, prices spike until either supply increases or demand recedes.  Unfortunately, the demand for oil and gasoline isn’t forecasted to decrease anytime soon, with emerging markets like India and China continuing to develop their economies and auto sales continuing to rise.

With the energy demand unlikely to diminish, one way to significantly lower gas prices is to increase our own domestic supply by ramping up the production and exploration of American oil and gas.  

Over the past 25 years the United States’ reliance on foreign sources of oil has skyrocketed.  In 1973, foreign oil constituted only 35% of America’s oil usage.  In 2005, that number has grown to 60%.  

With many of these countries being either unfriendly to the United States or run by unstable and/or terror supporting governments, it is becoming even more crucial we use our own resources to provide for our energy needs.

This increase in production must include beginning exploration in the large reserve of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).   

ANWR is a 19 million acre frozen tundra – roughly the size of the state of South Carolina. In comparison to this massive area, the proposed potential drilling sites put together comprise an area about the size of the Jacksonville Airport.  A 1998 United States Geological Survey (USGS) study indicated that there may be as many as 11.6 billion barrels of oil there.

But exploration should not be limited to just ANWR.  With new technology, we now have the ability to drill offshore in an environmentally sensitive fashion, and we must do so.  I support such drilling as long as it is a reasonable distance from the coast and as long as the drilling doesn’t hinder military missions and exercises offshore.  

A few weeks ago, the President rescinded the Executive moratorium on offshore drilling and called on Congress to do the same.  

A recent Washington Post article stated “No one knows how much oil is in the moratorium area, but the federal Energy Information Administration estimates that roughly 75 billion barrels of oil in the United States are off-limits for development, and that 21 percent of this oil – or 16 million barrels – is covered by the moratorium.”

These are all resources available to the United States now, and if it were not for the self-imposed restrictions placed upon it from Congress, these would be the very resources that would bring significant relief to Americans being financially drained at the pump.  

Increasing US production and exploration will allow this nation to fully use the resources that we have and lessen our dependence and reliance on foreign nations for our energy needs.  It is time that we allow this exploration to take place, and take a huge step toward energy independence in America.

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July 2008 Press Releases



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