Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) Continues Fight to Bring Down Gas Prices

Sen. James Inhofe page with more VIDEOS at YouTube

WASHINGTON, DC
June 11, 2008
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, criticized the Democrats’ Consumer First Energy Act as a “No” Energy bill in floor remarks today. Senator Inhofe voted against cloture on the bill yesterday.

“The simple fact remains that until we explore and develop domestic energy resources and increase domestic refining capacity, the cost of gas at the pump will increase,” Senator Inhofe said.

“As Oklahomans and Americans face $4 per-gallon gas prices, now is not the time for politics as usual – now is the time for common sense solutions. The Democrats’ bill increases taxes by $17 billion on America’s oil and gas producers and increases government bureaucracy.

“The Democrats have introduced an energy bill which contains no energy. The Democrats’ bill does nothing to increase access to America’s extensive oil and natural gas reserves, does nothing for the promotion of nuclear energy, does nothing to increase refinery capacity, does nothing for electricity generation or transmission, and does nothing for the utilization of clean coal.

“As the price of gas at the pump continues to go up, Democrats are proposing yet another energy tax. Their attempted ‘solution’ to our energy challenges is to raise taxes again and further harm American families.”

Additional Inhofe Speech Excerpts:

“Federal law already bans companies from colluding to fix prices and the federal government currently has all the legal tools necessary to address price gouging. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), ‘At least 30 states… have laws that prohibit gouging, excessive price increases, or unconscionable pricing. (LINK) Other states may also exercise authority under general deceptive trade practice laws depending on the nature of the state law and the specific circumstances in which price increases occur.’ So knowing what we do about price gouging, this provision is repetitive, unnecessary, and potentially counterproductive. Most importantly, however, it fails to do anything to address our record-high gas prices.

“The other major component of the Democrats’ Energy Bill reinstates the Windfall Profits Tax (WPT). Democrats want to impose a Windfall Profits Tax despite the fact that we had this same tax almost 30 years ago and the results were disastrous. In 1980, under President Jimmy Carter, Congress imposed an excise levy on domestic oil production called the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax. According to a 1990 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), the results of Carter’s Windfalls Profits Tax were very counterproductive: ‘The WPT reduced domestic oil production between 3 and 6 percent, and increased oil imports from between 8 and 16 percent… This made the U.S. more dependent upon imported oil.’ Looking back to 1980, we now know what a Windfall Profits Tax will do. It will decrease domestic production and increase America’s oil imports – the exact opposite of what we need to do. For American jobs, for the international competitiveness of American companies, and for consumers at the pump, Congress must reject the Democrats’ attempts to increase taxes and implement back door price controls.

“Oil and gas exploration and production are currently prohibited on 85 percent of America’s offshore waters. Among industrialized nations with shorelines, the United States is the only one not actively seeking new offshore oil and gas deposits. Canada allows offshore drilling in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes. Additionally, Cuba is also looking to expand drilling which could occur within 45 miles of parts of Florida and with technology that is much less environmentally sound than that used by American companies. Exploration and production activities are currently prohibited in the Pacific and Atlantic regions of the Outer Continental Shelf, which hold an estimated 14 billion barrels of oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of gas. This is equivalent to more than 25 years’ worth of imports from Saudi Arabia. If President Clinton hadn’t vetoed legislation allowing environmentally sensitive exploration on the Coastal Plain of ANWR 10 years ago, today we would have 1 million additional barrels of oil a day coming from ANWR, which would mean lower gas prices for consumers and more energy security right now. ANWR is estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil – about 15 years worth of imports from Saudi Arabia.”

Background:

Last month, Senator Inhofe joined Senator Domenici to introduce S. 2958, the American Energy Production Act of 2008. This legislation will address America’s soaring gas prices by focusing on common sense measures that will increase production of oil and gas in America. By expanding production offshore and in Alaska, and removing obstacles to domestic production in the West, this bill will help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Additionally, in each of the past two Congresses, Senator Inhofe introduced legislation to improve and streamline the permitting process for the expansion of existing and new refineries. The Gas PRICE Act is designed to ease America’s soaring gas prices, address true energy independence, and increase refinery capacity. The Gas Price Act would improve the permitting process for the expansion of existing and construction of new domestic fuels facilities, as well as encourage and fund the development of future fuels, which includes coal-to-liquids and cellulosic biomass ethanol. In addition, the Act would provide for a more stable and certain regulatory environment, and it would have numerous economic benefits, including locating refineries in distressed communities. The legislation would have increased domestic refining capacity, one of the major hurdles to bringing down the price at the pump. When this legislation was offered as an amendment to the Energy Bill last year, it failed 43-52 without a single Democratic member voting for the amendment.

Some past history of this Bill
Dated June of last year!!
June 13,2007
DEMOCRATS REJECT INHOFE AMENDMENT TO
BRING DOWN PRICE OF GAS AT PUMP
WASHINGTON, DC
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW), today commented on the Democrats rejection of the Inhofe Gas PRICE Act Amendment (1505) to the energy bill.
“Passage of my amendment, the Gas PRICE Act, would have gone a long way in decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil and help bring down prices at the pump,” Senator Inhofe said. “Unfortunately, Democrats chose to play politics with the pocket books of American consumers and rejected this common sense amendment.
“Today, the Democrats rejected an amendment that would have significantly helped reduce the cost of gas at the pump — an issue that is sure to dominate in the 2008 presidential election. Americans are paying more at the pump today because we do not have the domestic capacity to produce domestic fuels consumers demand. The American public is starving for affordable energy and it appears the Democrats’ only answer is to tell them to go on a diet. It is imperative for the national security of this country that we increase production at home. Despite the rhetoric by some Democratic leaders about energy independence, they continue to oppose measures that would address key factors in helping America achieve that goal.
This will come back to haunt the Democrats as a major issue in 2008.
“My home state of Oklahoma has long been a leader in oil and gas supply, and today it is also a leader in innovating and providing transportation fuels for the future. Passage of my amendment would have promoted building of coal-to-liquids and commercial scale cellulosic ethanol facilities in Oklahoma and across the country.”

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Wild Thing’s comment…….
I REALLY like this man. Inholfe has been a Conservative warrior in the Senate! He spoke at length of the perils of the global warming hoax, and it was well researched and presented. This energy position that he is taking is another area he excels.
He did NOT give up. They shot him down about this last year and he is back. God bless this man in every way!!
We should all thank him. We need a lot more just like him.
Contact:
MARC MORANO (202) 224-5762
marc_morano@epw.senate.gov
MATT DEMPSEY (202) 224-9797
matt_dempsey@inhofe.senate.gov