The House Natural Resources Committee today passed three bipartisan American energy bills that are important components of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, which will create over a million good-paying jobs, remove government barriers to American energy production, make America more energy secure, and help repair our roads and bridges without raising taxes.

“This Republican jobs plan opens access to American energy resources, creates new jobs, brings certainty for small businesses that depend on affordable energy, and generates new revenue that can be used to build roads and infrastructure projects to create even more American jobs. Unlocking our Nation’s energy resources starts a wave of economic benefits and job creation that will positively touch nearly every aspect of our economy,” said Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04).

The energy portion of the plan would expand access to American offshore and onshore energy resources - creating over a million new American jobs, lowering gasoline prices, reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy, and raising new revenue.

• Offshore Energy Production. The plan would require the Administration to move forward with new offshore energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources that President Obama placed off limits for drilling after taking office. The plan includes the Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast, and portions of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct oil and natural gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Alaska and Virginia that have been delayed or cancelled. The plan will create over 1.2 million jobs and establishes fair and equitable revenue sharing for coastal states. Click here to learn more.

• ANWR. The plan would open less than 3 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to responsible energy development by directing the Interior Secretary to establish lease sales in the North Slope. The North Slope of ANWR was specifically set aside in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter and Congress for oil and natural gas development. The plan would create tens of thousands of new jobs and improve the local Alaskan economy. ANWR contains approximately 10.4 billion barrels of oil and at peak production could supply the U.S. with up to 1.45 million barrels of oil per day. Click here to learn more.

• Oil Shale. The plan would create new American jobs by setting clear rules for the development of U.S. oil shale resources and promoting shale technology research and development. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue additional Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) and commercial leases and makes permanent the Resource Management Plan amendments and commercial oil shale regulations published guidelines by the Department in November 2008. The plan to fully develop our Nation’s abundant oil shale resources could create hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs. Click here to learn more.

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