COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
10:00 a.m.

• Press Release - Energy Expert Confirms Credit for Increased New Mexico Oil & Natural Gas Production Goes to Past Administrations, Not President Obama (3/21/2012)
• Press Release - Chairman Hastings: President Embarks on Political Tour as His Failed Energy Policies Drive Up Gasoline Prices (3/21/2012)

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Harnessing American Resources to Create Jobs and Address Rising Gasoline Prices: Families and Cost-of-Life Impacts"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Researcher
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Lucian Pugliaresi
President
Energy Policy Research Foundation
(Truth in Testimony Form)

David Holt
President
Consumer Energy Alliance
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Dennis Kelleher
President and CEO
Better Markets, Inc.
(Truth in Testimony Form)

BACKGROUND:

In January 2009, the cost of one gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline averaged $1.79 throughout the United States. Today, that same gallon averages $3.58 – and that price is climbing. While American families and small businesses are already weathering financial hardship as a result of U.S. and global economic turbulence, the skyrocketing cost of gasoline in our country threatens our fragile economic recovery. This hearing will focus on testimony from economic experts on the impact of gas prices throughout our nation’s economy: measures that have led us to become heavily reliant on foreign oil, measures that have led to decreased energy production on federal lands, and the consequences of these actions. Additionally, Members will have an opportunity to question economists on possible actions moving forward that will help generate more domestic energy production and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.