SEA Applauds Sen. Dole’s Position on Offshore Energy – Calls on Congress to Act Now to Reduce Gasoline and Diesel Prices
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – JUNE 18, 2008 The Southeast Energy Alliance (SEA) applauded Senator Dole (R-NC) for joining the fight to lift the moratorium on offshore energy production and ease the pain at the pump that all Americans are feeling due to record high gasoline and diesel prices.
“Gasoline and diesel prices throughout the Southeast are simply too high for Washington to continue to ignore,” said SEA Executive Director Michael Whatley. “SEA is grateful to Sen. Dole for taking a stand on behalf of the families, farms and businesses of North Carolina.”
“The economics of gasoline and diesel prices are pretty darn simple,” Whatley continued. “When crude oil prices go up, gasoline and diesel prices go up. If you want gasoline and diesel prices to go down, you have to reduce the price of oil.”
Whatley also ridiculed recent arguments that Congressional movement on domestic production will not have any impact on the cost of gasoline and diesel, “We can either produce oil here in the United States for less than $35 a barrel – or buy it from OPEC for more than $135 a barrel. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.”
In order to reduce prices at the pump, we need to lift the ban on exploration and production of the Outer Continental Shelf, lift the moratoria on unconventional fuels development, such as oil shale, and develop a robust, balanced national energy program that will bring domestic energy online.
“The Southeast Energy Alliance urges all of the Congressional members from the Southeast – and across the country – to join Sen. Dole in working to lift the restrictions on responsible exploration and production of our vital national energy resources.”