“The ‘No Energy-Energy Bill’ Keeps Americans Running on Empty”
Congressman Says Bill is Nothing More than a Political Hoax
September 17, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After weeks of Democrat obstruction and refusal to allow the
American Energy Act to come to the floor for a fair vote, House Democrats submitted an empty and insubstantial piece of energy legislation for consideration in the dead of night. Breaking their own campaign promise to allow Members to have at least 24 hours in which to consider introduced legislation prior to a vote, Democrats pushed the 290-page bill to the floor – where it was being considered this evening.
Rep. Crenshaw said,
“This bill is an insult to the American people who are continuing to bear the burden of high energy prices. This legislation is full of politics and empty of energy. It is nothing more than a political hoax.”
The legislation has earned the nickname, the
“No-Energy, Energy Bill,” because it continues to keep the vast majority of America’s untapped energy resources under lock and key and ignores development of new energy technology like nuclear, clean coal, and other alternative fuels.
The legislation passed today continues to keep billions of barrels of oil and natural gas - located in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Outer Continental Shelf, and U.S. oil shale resources -off limits to exploration and production. Such production would increase domestic energy supply and lower prices.
“What other message can Americans possibly get from the passage of this bill, than ‘We don’t care’? This bill will not lower energy prices one penny, and will not move us an inch closer to energy independence,” added Rep. Crenshaw.
Republicans have been fighting for months to get the Democrat-led Congress to allow consideration of the
American Energy Act, which is an “all of the above” energy strategy geared toward using all of America’s energy resources to solve America’s energy crisis.
Rep. Crenshaw denounced the bill and said,
“Comprehensive means comprehensive, yet this bill provides for no new oil refineries, no expansion of emission-free nuclear power, no revenue sharing for states that do drill for oil or gas, and no development of advanced clean coal and coal-to-liquid technology. But while today’s legislation adds no new energy, it does add a $19 billion energy-tax hike on tax payers.”
When asked what long-term beneficial impact this energy bill would have for the American taxpayer, Crenshaw simply answered, “None; none now and none later.”
After a summer of intense national debate over the skyrocketing prices of gas and energy, the Democrat-led Congress took a 5-week recess and still has yet to produce any real change that will lead to real energy independence and a real lowering of energy prices. Even Senate Democrats have admitted that the Democrat House energy bill has no chance of passage on the other side of the Hill.
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