Feeling pain at the pump? Blame the White House's energy policies, says Rep. Martha Roby
Alabama Media Group
By Leada Gore
Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The administration has developed a "just say no mentality" on domestic sources of energy, said Roby, R-Montgomery. The result is higher prices at the pump, the grocery store and in monthly utility bills. "The president and his policies are clamping down on new exploration projects, penalizing electricity producers, and refusing to approve needed energy infrastructure like the Keystone Pipeline.”
 

If the high cost of summer travel – and soaring utility bills – has you down, blame it on the White House's energy policies, Rep. Martha Roby said.

The administration has developed a "just say no mentality" on domestic sources of energy, said Roby, R-Montgomery. The result is higher prices at the pump, the grocery store and in monthly utility bills.
"The president and his policies are clamping down on new exploration projects, penalizing electricity producers, and refusing to approve needed energy infrastructure like the Keystone Pipeline. That kind of stubbornness might please radical environmentalists, but it hurts American families," Roby said.

A recent survey by AAA showed prices at the pump are currently at a six-year high, with the average price for a gallon of gas at $3.66. The recent spike has been blamed on unrest in Iraq and fears actions by Islamic insurgents could interrupt supply lines and drive up global prices.

Roby said the U.S. should concentrate on domestic sources of energy to help combat high gasoline prices and the impact they have on utility and food costs.

"We have abundant energy resources in this country. Now we need to enact policies and build infrastructure that allow those resources to be delivered efficiently," she said.

Roby pointed to three measures passed by the Republican-controlled House as examples of needed domestic energy efforts. The first would streamline the approval process for pipelines and electricity lines that cross national borders. Currently, such efforts require State Department Approval and that process has been cited by Republicans as one of the holdups to the long-delayed Keystone project that will bring oilsands from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

The other measures would expedite the approval process for companies seeking to export natural gas and expand domestic oil production by allowing new land-based and off-shore areas to be opened for exploration.

The measures will now head to the Democratic-controlled Senate.