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Press Release

Republicans Propose Common Sense Plan to Lower Gasoline Prices and Fuel an America that Works

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 19, 2014 | Committee Press Office (202-225-2761)
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Reps. Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Bill Cassidy (LA-06), Scott Tipton (CO-03), Don Young (AK-At Large), Bill Johnson (OH-06), Cynthia Lummis (WY-At Large), Bill Flores (TX-17), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02), Rob Wittman (VA-01), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Rob Bishop (UT-01), and Kevin Cramer (ND-At Large) today introduced H.R. 4899, the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America that Works Act. The bill would help ease the pain at the pump for American families and businesses by expanding production of American energy resources.

“Hardworking American families are already being forced to stretch their paycheck further and further each month and they cannot afford four-dollar gasoline prices. As we head into the summer driving season, it’s time for Congress and the President to act before it gets worse,” said Chairman Hastings. “In order for America to prosper, we need access to reliable and affordable energy. The best way to create jobs and help address rising prices is to develop the American energy resources we have right here at home. From offshore to federal lands onshore, America has the oil and natural gas resources necessary to make us a world leader in energy production, isolate ourselves from volatile price spikes, and free ourselves from the grip of OPEC. By unlocking our Nation’s own resources we can put over a million Americans back to work, breathe new life into our economy, and lower gasoline prices for American families and businesses.”

The Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America that Works Act is a common sense action plan to remove Obama Administration roadblocks to harness our American energy resources. Specifically the bill:

  • Requires the Administration to move forward with new offshore energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources – including the Atlantic Coast and Pacific Coast.
  • Requires the Administration to conduct oil and natural gas leases sales that it has delayed or cancelled, including the Virginia Lease sale originally scheduled for 2011.
  • Increases offshore energy production by establishing fair and equitable revenue sharing of offshore revenues for all coastal states, including U.S. territories.
  • Reforms and further enhances the accountability, efficiency, safety and ethical standards of offshore energy operations.
  • Reforms the leasing process for onshore oil and natural gas projects on federal lands to eliminate unnecessary delays.
  • Reforms the process for energy permitting, once a lease is in hand, to encourage the timely development of our federal resources
  • Sets clear rules for the development of U.S. oil shale resources.
  • Establishes common sense steps to create an all-of-the-above American energy plan using our vast federal resources.
  • Ensures that oil and natural gas resources in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) are developed and transported in a timely, efficient manner.
  • Modernizes and updates the bidding process for oil and natural gas leases by allowing Internet-based auctions.

BACKGROUND - Impacts of Obama Administration Energy Roadblocks:

  • Since President Obama took office, total federal oil production has dropped 6% and total federal natural gas production has dropped 28%. ALL of the increase in U.S. oil and natural gas production has been on state and private lands, not federal. (Source: Congressional Research Service, April 2014)
  • The Obama Administration has had the four lowest years of federal acres leased for onshore energy production going back to 1988. (Source: BLM)

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