ANWR Will Make America More Energy Self-Sufficient

6/16/2004

From: Brian Kennedy of the House Committee on Resources, 202-226-9019

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- The House of Representatives will consider legislation today that authorizes energy production on 2000 of the 20 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as supply woes continue to plague the country.

Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.), author of H.R. 4529, the Arctic Coastal Plain and Surface Mining Improvement Act of 2004, will lead today's debate.

"Someday in the future this nation will not have to rely on oil for its needs," Chairman Pombo said. "American ingenuity and great investment in research and development are at work right now to bring that day closer. But that day has not yet come. We have not been relieved of our responsibility to fuel America for the present and the near future, nor can we conserve our way out of shortages in the face of rising demand. We must act."

Domestic energy production in the United States has failed to keep pace with great increases in demand. As a result, the U.S. is now more than sixty percent dependent on foreign sources of oil, a dependence that threatens America's economy and national security. At today's prices, that represents a staggering $400 billion a year that is sent to foreign nations.

"Opponents of ANWR production have consistently told us why we can't," Pombo continued. "I am interested in how we can. Opponents know that we have the best technology and toughest standards in the world, but choose to import oil from nations in our global environment that have neither. They refuse to embrace the incredible resource potential of a 2000 acre compromise on the frozen plain of Alaska, deploying scare tactics and false rhetoric about polluting the entire 20 million acre refuge instead."

"There are choices to make. We can continue sending $400 billion to foreign nations for oil every year, or we can spend it here. We can bolster the economies of other nations, or we can bolster our own. We can create hundreds of thousands of jobs here, or our capital can be used to create them overseas. We can provide for ourselves, or we can rely on foreign regimes. I think the choices are clear. The House has made these choices several times. It is time for the Senate to make a choice."

A resource for all the facts on ANWR, including jobs, resources, technology, and myths: Putting ANWR in Perspective ( http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/issues/emr/anwrrpt.htm )

EIA Report: ANWR would increase domestic production by 20 percent. ( http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/Press/releases/2004/0316eiareport.htm )