National Average: $3.951
Week Ago Average: $3.967
Year Ago Average: $2.908

Currently, about 60% of the 7 billion barrels of oil consumed in the U.S. each year is imported from the Middle East and other volatile parts of the world. The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest consumer of the U.S. energy supply, requiring around 130 million barrels of fuel to maintain U.S. military operations.

The DoD’s reliance on fossil fuels not only highlights the ever-present risk of our dependence on foreign oil from potentially unfriendly nations, but it endangers the lives of troops engaged in refueling operations in conflict areas on a daily basis. According to one report, 170 members of the armed service were killed in attacks on fuel convoys in 2007 alone.

As Chairman of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, I believe it is imperative to our national security that we secure our energy supply. To help elevate this issue on Capitol Hill, I have recently joined the Defense Energy Security Caucus. This bipartisan caucus educates members of Congress and the public on the strategic value of utilizing sustainable energy sources for the U.S. military, while highlighting and supporting established and emerging defense energy initiatives and finding solutions to energy challenges facing the Department of Defense. Read more about my plan for refining our nation’s energy policy here.

Agree or disagree: Energy independence is a national security issue.

National Average: $3.967
Week Ago Average: $3.869
Year Ago Average: $2.895

 Energy issues currently fall within the jurisdiction of eight executive agencies and around thirty congressional committees. Sadly, the result is often a disjointed, disorganized and ineffective approach to energy that wastes taxpayer dollars while gas prices and energy bills are soaring. Meanwhile, our national security continues to be at risk as long as we are dependent on oil from the Middle East and other unstable regions.  Additionally, under the current dysfunctional policy, we are falling behind in nuclear technology and alternative energy development.

The simple truth is that we need to get to work on a bold energy policy. We need a streamlined, comprehensive strategy that makes energy a priority and clearly delineates a system for measuring progress towards established goals. 

Offering a Comprehensive Solution:

• I have introduced the New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence as a solution to the pressing need for our nation’s energy independence. The New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence challenges the U.S. to reach 50% energy independence in 10 years and 100% energy independence in 20 years by establishing energy goals that would change the landscape of energy production in America. Prizes for achieving aggressive goals are not awarded until they are met and can provide America with game-changing energy wins. 

Promoting Domestic Oil Production: 

• Working to overcome the Administration’s job-killing oil moratorium. I have cosponsored the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, which requires an end to the Administration’s de facto moratorium on new oil and natural gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Even though the moratorium was officially lifted in October, the Administration has only issued five permits for projects to get back to work. Ten months later, over forty projects remain stalled. Government and business leaders from the Gulf Coast estimate that the moratorium on energy exploration last year cost more than 8,000 jobs and wiped out nearly $2.1 billion in economic activity. 
• Supporting renewable energy development. I have also cosponsored the American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act, which creates a competitive leasing program for the exploration and development of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska and mandates that revenues from that oil and gas production be used for a vast array of renewable energy programs.
• Working to open Virginia’s OCS for energy exploration and production. I have cosponsored the Virginia Access to Energy Act, which allows for the exploration of natural gas and crude oil in Virginia’s waters of the Outer Continental Shelf. The bill requires the Department of Interior to proceed with the Virginia lease sale no later than one year after passage of this legislation. 

Ending Costly, Ineffective Programs:

• Opposing costly implementation of cap-and-trade. I have cosponsored the Ensuring Affordable Energy Act, which prohibits federal funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be used to implement or enforce a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. Although the cap-and-trade legislation has not become law and has received the overwhelming disapproval of the American public, the administration has indicated that it will implement this policy through new EPA regulations without Congress’ approval. This bill will put an end to any back-door attempt to go around Congress and circumvent the will of the people, which will save American families and small businesses thousands of dollars per year in new taxes.
• Protecting jobs and the family pocketbook. I cosponsored the Free Industry Act, which restricts the EPA's regulation of “greenhouse gases” through the Clean Air Act. Provisions from this bill were included in the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which I voted for and which passed on April 7, 2011 by a vote of 255-172. 

What do you think our energy policy should look like?

National Average: $3.869
Week Ago Average: $3.835
Year Ago Average: $2.854

An economics professor from the University of Maryland predicts that if gas prices reach $4 per gallon and stay at that level, the result will be the loss of 600,000-700,000 jobs. By another economist’s calculations, for every $0.24 increase in the price of gasoline, employment could decline by 410,000.

As Americans react to the escalating gas prices by cutting back on driving, automakers are reporting significant losses in sales. In the second week in April, shares in Ford dropped 3.7% in a day. With nearly two million domestic jobs linked to domestic automakers, these kinds of profit losses are not insignificant. Across the board, when consumers spend 11% of their paychecks on gas, as they currently are, they are left with less disposable income for other purchases, which drives down the economy and hurts job-creation.

Americans are ready to get back to work. We must act now to contain gas prices and prevent further job loss.

That’s why I have cosponsored the Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy, and Deficit Reduction Act, which will create jobs by increasing domestic energy production off the outer continental shelf and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for environmentally responsible oil and gas production. This bill could create over 3 million jobs and add $10 trillion to the GDP without adding to our foreign debt or raising taxes. The bill focuses on helping to create American jobs and paying down the debt by unleashing an industry the federal government is currently holding back through regulation and overly-rigid environmental burdens.

Weigh in: Are you concerned that the rising gas prices could cost American jobs?