Last week, Chairman Doc Hastings announced plans to recommend increased offshore and onshore drilling – including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska - to the Joint Select Committee as a way to help reach their deficit reduction goals. Responsible energy production on less than three percent of ANWR’s total land could create thousands of jobs and $150 billion or more in revenue over the life of production.

“Faced with record deficits, near double-digit unemployment and high gasoline prices, lawmakers should not take any job-creating options off the table,” said Chairman Hastings. “While this hearing will specifically examine the benefits of developing a small portion of ANWR, we must seize this opportunity to create new jobs and generate new revenue by carefully considering all options for new onshore and offshore energy production. The Joint Committee will consider a wide range of proposals on how to meet their goal of $1.5 trillion in savings, and I hope they recognize that increased American energy production will generate billions in new revenue, without raising taxes, at no cost to the government.”

Click here to learn about ANWR.

Visit the Committee Hearings webpage for testimony and additional information, once it is made available. The hearing is open to the public and a live stream will be broadcast at /live.

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