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As energy prices continue to set records, my office has been flooded with your calls, emails, and letters demanding solutions. You have even sent in drill bits saying that we need to increase domestic energy production as soon as possible. As a former farmer and businessman, I know the impact high prices are having on South Carolina families and businesses. As a Member of Congress, I understand the extent of this energy challenge and believe that it also represents a challenge to our security. That’s why I am proud to be leading the fight up Washington for an “all of the above” solution.
This solution is as serious an approach as the challenge facing our nation. Adopting it means an increase in American energy production, a decrease in energy use through conservation, and accelerated development of alternatives. Not only do I have a strong record of supporting such efforts, but in many cases I have been leading the fight long before high energy prices made headlines. Years ago, I was one of the few who would risk supporting environmentally responsible domestic energy production. I, along with six other colleagues, led the push for the new auto fuel economy standards that we have in place today.
What is stopping efforts to develop energy solutions? Unlike almost every other country, we view our nation’s abundant energy resources not as strategic assets, but as environmental liabilities. We ignore or fight even the most basic efforts to develop them, instead hoping that our energy challenge will magically disappear while blaming “speculators” and “profit-hungry energy companies.” For all the years we’ve heard these arguments, have they had any impact on the cost we pay at the pump?
Back in the 1970s, foreign countries caused an energy crisis in the United States, and that was when we derived less than 30% of our petroleum from foreign sources. Now, more than 60% comes from foreign sources, many of which loath our way of life and very existence. Taking action now to develop the vast petroleum and renewable resources here at home will not only make more energy available, but it will also send a strong signal to these countries who threaten our way of life. Such a signal will have an immediate impact on the market and will lead to lower prices in the short term.
So what resources are out there? Fifty to 100 miles offshore, far from our pristine beaches, is at least 420 TRILLION cubic feet of natural gas. Out in the West sits 2 trillion barrels of oil deposited in oil shale – two times more oil than the whole world has used since the first oil well in 1859. Up in Alaska sits energy reserves equal to all the production of the state of Texas, all under 2,000 acres of desolate Arctic desert. Renewables like wave and wind energy have the potential to meet over 12% of our electricity needs in 20 years. Yet almost all of them remain off limits.
Recently, a colleague of mine said that we shouldn’t conduct any new domestic energy production because the proposed locations were “special.” A fellow Member from Texas then asked him, “well, isn’t Texas special?” The fact is, despite the scare tactics, there hasn’t been a spill on a U.S. beach from offshore oil production in 38 years and new techniques are infinitely safer than ever before. During Hurricane Katrina, 113 oil platforms were destroyed. Yet the U.S. Minerals Management Service said “no shoreline or wildlife impacts were noted." The same can’t be said of our history of using tankers to import hundreds of thousands of gallons of foreign oil.
What can be said is that the residents of coastal South Carolina are feeling the pain of skyrocketing energy prices. Gasoline prices have risen to record highs, up roughly 75 percent since the start of 2007. Those who make their living on the water are paying nearly $5.00 per gallon for diesel, seeing already-slim profit margins erode further. The tourism industry is suffering because visitors can’t afford to drive to our beautiful beaches and historic sites. Our industries are being stifled by high costs for natural gas.
I am proud to be leading the effort to develop an “all of the above” energy strategy with my Republican colleagues. Through serious conservation measures and environmentally responsible development of our domestic energy resources now, we can bridge the gap as we work to develop and deploy more renewable and alternative fuels such as biofuels, nuclear and hydrogen power. I encourage you to visit my website (http://brown.house.gov/Issues/energy.html), where you can find more information about solutions to the challenge facing our nation. I want each of you know to that I am committed to this fight for energy solutions. It will be a hard fight, but it will be worth it.
Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. represents South Carolina's 1st Congressional District.
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