"But our basic role is to provide a sound and stable economic and policy environment that will enable our citizens, businesses, and governmental units at all levels to make rational decisions on energy use and production—decisions that reflect the true value, in every sense, of all the Nation's resources."
Ronald Reagan - July 17, 1981
DOMESTIC ENERGY AND JOBS ACT
Read about H.R. 4480, the GOP’s energy plan to boost domestic energy production and put Americans back to work.
AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE
Learn more about how developing America's own resources can create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
ENERGY NEWS
The latest news about the GOP's efforts to ease energy burdens on working families and small businesses.
HEAT
Discover more about the House Energy Action Team - a group of Republican lawmakers focused on developing and implementing a robust domestic energy plan.
America's Energy Future
In order to have a viable and sustainable energy future, America needs a comprehensive plan that utilizes all of our nation’s natural resources, not just a few. By pairing together technological innovation with proven science, we can safely and responsibly develop our resources both above and below ground.
A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT FOR OUR FUTURE
Domestic energy producers are investing billions of dollars to expand America’s available energy and create new long-term jobs. They partnered together on big ideas like the Keystone Pipeline and improved new, innovative technologies like hydraulic fracturing which turned once hard to reach resources into ripe sources of energy for years to come.
At the same time as energy innovators are investing and creating jobs, this Administration has pursued policies denying Americans access to proven sources of energy. Picking winners and losers isn’t how America is going to move forward and become an energy independent country.
Since the President took office, total fossil fuel development has dropped seven percent and total onshore acreage leased is the lowest since 1984. The nonpartisan Energy Information Administration estimates that oil production in the Gulf was down 22% in 2011 and projects it will reduce to 30% in 2012.
H.R. 4480 - The Domestic Energy and Jobs Act
The Domestic Energy and Jobs Act is a national energy plan focused on reducing the energy burden on hard-working families and small businesses while creating tens of thousands of new jobs. A package of seven bipartisan bills, H.R. 4480 works with domestic energy producers to restore regulatory certainty, spur economic growth and continue on path a towards energy independence.
STRATEGIC ENERGY PRODUCTION ACT OF 2012, (REP. CORY GARDNER, CO-4)
The Strategic Energy Production Act of 2012 (H.R. 4480) links tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to increasing energy production on federal lands. If the President releases oil from the SPR, the Administration will be required to develop a plan to lease more federal lands for exploration and production.
PLANNING FOR AMERICAN ENERGY ACT OF 2012, (REP. SCOTT TIPTON, CO-3)
The Planning for American Energy Act of 2012 (H.R. 4381) would require the Secretary of the Interior to establish an all-of-the-above energy program for federal lands by reviewing the nation’s energy needs and then establishing goals for federal land energy production to meet those needs from all energy sources, oil, natural gas, coal and renewables.
GASOLINE REGULATIONS ACT OF 2012, (REP. ED WHITFIELD, KY-1)
The Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471) would require an interagency committee to conduct a cumulative analysis on certain EPA rules and actions that impact the price of gasoline and diesel fuels. It will pause the implementation of the Tier 3 fuel standards, refinery New Source Performance Standards, and ozone standards until six months after the report is submitted to Congress, which should provide for a better understanding of the costs and consequences of these rules.
PROVIDING LEASING CERTAINTY FOR AMERICAN ENERGY ACT OF 2012, (REP. MIKE COFFMAN, CO-6)
The Providing Leasing Certainty for American Energy Act of 2012 (H.R. 4382) would: 1) require a minimum annual acreage leasing plan that makes available at least 25 percent of the lands open for leasing each year for which there is interest in development and 2) set firm timelines for the Secretary of the Interior to issue leases and adjudicate lease protests. It would also prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from withdrawing leases and adding additional lease stipulations after they have been sold.
STREAMLINING PERMITTING OF AMERICAN ENERGY ACT OF 2012, (REP. DOUG LAMBORN, CO-5)
The Streamlining Permitting of American Energy Act (H.R. 4383) would ensure a reliable permitting process to increase American energy production. It would remove government roadblocks and bureaucratic red tape that hinder and delay American energy production and American job creation. It streamlines and reforms the process for energy permitting, once a lease is in hand, to encourage the timely development of our federal onshore oil, natural gas, and renewable resources.
NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE ALASKA ACCESS ACT, (REP. "DOC" HASTINGS, WA-4)
The National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act (H.R. 2150) will create new jobs, support current energy jobs in Alaska, expand American energy production and lower energy costs by ensuring that oil and natural gas resources in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) are developed and transported in a timely, efficient manner.
BLM LIVE INTERNET AUCTIONS ACT, (REP. BILL JOHNSON, OH-6)
The BLM Live Internet Auctions Act (H.R. 2752) gives the Secretary of the Interior the authority to conduct Internet-based auctions for onshore leases to ensure the best return to the Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and secure the leasing process.
Opening Federal Lands for Energy
By: Rep. Kevin McCarthy
6/21/2012
There’s a domestic energy resurgence in parts of our country just like the California Gold Rush of 1848. But today’s Sutter’s Mill is in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and the Utica and Marcellus formations in the Midwest and Eastern United States. Technological innovations for harvesting energy have unlocked a U.S. energy and manufacturing renaissance that has the potential to free us from dependence on foreign oil and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
Yet unless we change our policies, this energy and economic future is not guaranteed. The prospects of job creation and increased energy independence can only be realized if all our energy resources are developed – including the majority on federally owned lands.
Energy production on private and public lands is estimated to create 600,000 direct jobs, and its total economic effect could generate more than three million jobs. The fruits of this labor could significantly surpass the energy reserves of Saudi Arabia and even establish the United States as a net exporter of oil and gas.
These opportunities however, are being stifled by drilling moratoriums and lease applications tangled in bureaucratic gridlock. Frustrated by the lack of cooperation from the federal government, energy companies are taking their infrastructure and jobs overseas. As a result, energy production on federal lands is down 14 percent since 2010.
Meanwhile, my Democratic House colleagues point to outdated statistics that claim we have reached our country’s oil and gas production potential — and must bet our future investments only on green energy.
The best way to prepare for the future isn’t to bet on more risky Solyndras. We can, instead, secure and invest in the present. Today, our unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent for 40 consecutive months. Local communities across the country are facing dire economic conditions. Unless we change course, our path to prosperity will continue to hit roadblocks.
Fortunately, the model for comprehensive energy and economic development can be found in a few states. Both North Dakota (which has 3 percent unemployment) and Texas (ranked fourth in gross domestic product growth last year) have found that embracing energy production affects the entire economy. New college graduates now look to these states as premier job destinations and underemployed parents are relocating their families in search of a better life.
Determined to learn from these states and extend their opportunities throughout our country, the House is due to vote Thursday on the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act – a bipartisan bill that can remove the uncertainty for investments in U.S. energy jobs.
It would open up federal lands for efficient and safe production of energy resources. By passing this we can move our nation another step forward in getting Americans back to work while moving us closer to energy independence.
“This golden dream,” the historian H.S. Brands said, describing the national significance of the California gold rush,”… became a prominent part of the American psyche.”
Today, the American psyche is hungry for a resurgence of optimism. Now, fortunately, our country has the opportunity to develop domestic energy resources to power our economic recovery.
This new act makes it clear that House Republicans are taking the steps necessary to help free up these resources and secure our nation’s prosperity.
The Domestic Energy and Jobs Act Promotes America’s Energy Self-Reliance, New Jobs
By: Rep. Kevin McCarthy
6/19/2012
Economic policies built around a stimulus that failed to stimulate, a job-killing government takeover of health care, and an endless stream of new government rules and regulations have brought about an America vexed -- sinking under the weight of uncertainty. As a result, the Obama Administration continues to pursue policies that punish or deter job creators, while proclaiming the private sector is “doing fine.”
For the past three years, American families have been faced with many tough choices. From writing the mortgage check to filling up a tank of gas, the Obama economy has placed a heavy burden on American taxpayers.
Consider this Administration’s energy policies. Instead of embracing an industry that is leading an American manufacturing renaissance through oil and gas development on private lands, this Administration has pursued a goal of gas prices as high as they are in Europe. The President has spent hundreds of millions on unworkable “solutions” like Solyndra while the Bureau of Labor Management has outstanding permits that account for approximately 65,000 sidelined jobs. Further, the Administration's arbitrary and unilateral decision to kill the Keystone XL Pipeline threw another 20,000 American jobs out the window.
Americans deserve an energy plan that embraces all our domestic resources, not singling out pet-projects at the expense of proven technology.
America’s energy future could look a lot different -- it could look like North Dakota which is actually investing in a true all-of-the-above energy strategy. A state that has 3% unemployment -- the nation’s lowest, North Dakota recently became the second largest oil producing state, up from ninth, in less than six years. The 575,000 barrels per day North Dakota produces is helping to make America the fastest growing oil and natural gas producer worldwide.
It’s more than just the oil fields of the Bakken feeling the boom. Average North Dakota household incomes have risen 38% in the last decade, thanks in no small part to private investment and technological innovation making this oil boom possible. Far outside the oil field, downtown Bismarck is adding new schools, building new stores and turning businesses on their last leg right side up again.
Domestic energy producers’ significant strides forward have been made in spite of this Administration’s policies that merely provide lip service to domestic production. The American people deserve a serious approach that invests in all types of energy. The Domestic Energy and Jobs Act, which is being debated in the House this week, gets Americans working today and builds stronger communities for future generations.
VIDEO - TESORO: Made in the U.S.A.
WASHINGTON. D.C. – House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) today released “TESORO: Made in the U.S.A.,” a new video in which local resident and refinery worker Ron Day – the Environmental Health and Safety Manager at the Tesoro-Mandan Refinery – tells the economic boom story of North Dakota oil and gas production:
“In 1952, they discovered oil in North Dakota. In the early 80’s it actually went into a contraction. The economics of refining were so bad they were looking at downsizing refineries or shutting down refineries,” Ron Day said in the video. “We didn’t know where we were going to get our next barrel of oil, then the Bakken came along and everything is history after that.”
In 2005, crude oil production in the state was an average of 98,000 barrels per day. With the introduction of advanced technology like hydraulic fracturing, the state was able to skyrocket production to more than 575,000 barrels per day in 2011, making North Dakota the second largest oil and gas producer nationwide and the state with the lowest unemployment: 3%.
“It’s no longer a sleepy little North Dakota town. We are hustling and bustling, we’re growing and it’s a great opportunity for North Dakota and Bismarck,” Day explains. “Engineering companies which were nonexistent historically, they are all expanding which helps the refineries because now we have local engineering support. All of a sudden they are opening up satellite offices and creating a lot of new opportunities for our engineering students coming out of college.”
Over the past decade, North Dakota’s average household income has increased 38%, jumping from $34,604 in 2000 to $47,815 in 2010.
A recent Citigroup report argues that more domestic energy production like the kind outlined in the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act – unveiled last week by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy – could mean 3.6 million new jobs, enough to cut unemployment by 2%.
McCarthy: Domestic Energy & Jobs Act Moves American Energy Production, Jobs Forward
Washington D.C. – Congressman Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) unveiled the Domestic Energy & Jobs Act at the press conference earlier today with members of the House Energy Action Team:
“And when we look at the jobs report numbers that came back last month, there is no better chance for us to create jobs than having an energy policy that makes us independent. … What’s sad about all this is that America actually has, with the new technology, could have six times the Saudi Arabia proven oil reserves. Six times. Can you imagine what that would mean? If we have six times, can you only imagine the terms of jobs, national security, and keeping the money right here at home? There are so many benefits to having a policy that makes us independent.”
House Energy Action Team
The purpose of the House Energy Action Team is to supplement ongoing leadership, committee and conference efforts by providing a committed, talented and well-organized group of House members to serve as messengers of House GOP energy policy. HEAT will convey that robust domestic energy production creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and will secure our energy independence.
The goal is to present a clear message of viable energy policy alternatives that are clearly communicated to the American public. These policies alternatives are centered around increasing domestic energy production.
