In recent weeks we have highlighted current estimates of oil and gas reserves in the U.S., how these estimates have increased dramatically in recent years, and why that gives us more power to both influence world oil prices and move toward greater energy self-sufficiency.

Clearly, when oil prices are climbing as high and as rapidly as they have in recent months, people turn to Washington for solutions. One of the best remedies is to increase supply – and subsequently grow our economy and reduce our vulnerability to imports. .

This week, to underscore just how many ways we could adapt our national energy policy to promote greater energy and an increased supply of more affordable fuel, we offer a simple list. There are multiple actions that lawmakers could take today that would quickly impact domestic energy supply and prices.

1)   Opening new areas, offshore and onshore, to energy exploration and development. When you understand that uncertainty is a major factor influencing prices, you realize that even through it can take years for the oil from new projects to come online, committing to increased production sends a powerful signal to world markets, which tend to respond to action and stability. Not to mention the fact that we need to plan for our future by developing new fuel sources today.

2)   Ending calls for overregulation and needless uncertainty over hydraulic fracturing. We need to recognize – and celebrate – shale oil and gas for what it is: a game-changer that has stimulated many local economies, vastly increased our domestic fuel supply, and impacted. Rather than promoting policies that would threaten to severely curtail production, we need to find ways to support continued, responsible production.

3)   Ending the pursuit of a National Ocean Policy that imposes ocean zoning on ocean users including energy companies. The Administration has launched a National Ocean Council as a step toward regulating our oceans, Great Lakes and coastlines under one umbrella. While this program hasn’t received a whole lot of attention media attention, the impacts to the U.S. economy could be huge. , including new b It could impose new layers of bureaucracy and restrictions in coastal regions, many of them key oil and gas producing regions, that are already navigating multiple burdensome regulations.

4)   Complete all approvals necessary to move forward with the Keystone XL Pipeline. It’s hard to describe the Administration’s policies on the pipeline to date as anything other than a flip-flop. In January, President Obama rejected the proposed project, but two months later announced he would expedite the southern part of the route. In his apparent efforts to strike a middle ground, he has stoked the controversy and accomplished little. In order to ensure a steady supply of North American oil to our refineries in the Gulf, and reduce our dependence on more distant foreign sources, we need to support the entire project, not just pieces of it.

5)   Shift the discussion from tax cuts to increased production. Much has been made of the tax deductions that the oil and gas industry receives. In reality they amount to a tiny portion – about .0008% — of the federal deficit. If we want to find ways the oil and gas industries can support the national economy, we ought to focus on other things, like the fact that these sectors support millions of jobs and could create more jobs with the right policies supporting domestic energy production. After all, the most effective way to increase tax revenue is to put more people to work in well-paying jobs.

One of the more striking details from CEA President David Holt’s recent testimony before Congress was that – with the recent rise in crude oil prices – farmers are now paying about $1,000 to fill a single tractor with diesel fuel. Talk about pain at the pump. These days, no one needs a reminder of how much fuel costs have risen, but Holt offered a sobering overview of how widespread the pain has been felt, across virtually all industries, from manufacturing to farming. You can watch Holt’s full testimony before the House Committee on Natural Resources here.

Gasoline prices recently set a new record for the month of March, leading to prolonged debate about what – if anything – can be done. We think it’s important to address one prominent argument, which maintains that nothing can be done. A number of policymakers have argued that U.S. oil and gas production is insufficient to sway world crude oil prices, and a recent Associated Press analysis helped, well, fuel that line of reason, when it said there was no historical correlation between U.S. oil production and world fuel prices.

The analysis is flawed in a number of ways but its biggest error is its failure to recognize that today’s oil market looks a lot different than it has in years past. Technology has literally transformed the American oil industry – most notably with the large volumes of shale resources that are now accessible – and have the potential to fundamentally reshape the world oil market. A recent report by the Institute for Energy Research (citing data from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Department of Energy), showed that the United States holds more than 1.4 trillion barrels of technically recoverable oil. That’s five times the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia, and it doesn’t even count our recoverable natural gas reserves – estimated in the same report to total about 27 quadrillion cubic feet.

Other studies show that increased use of certain energy extraction technologies such as hydraulic fracturing could make it possible for North America to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2030. And in such a scenario, you don’t need a study to understand that removing the U.S. – the world’s largest oil consumer — as a purchaser from the global market would significantly affect world crude oil prices, and prices at the pump.

As Holt noted in his recent testimony, a combination of practical steps including approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, increased energy development in Alaska, and expanded oil production in the Gulf, would yield an additional 2.3 million barrels of oil per day. Weigh that against the roughly nine million barrels of oil we import each day and it’s clear that we have sufficient oil and gas resources to have a meaningful impact on the world crude oil market.

The present is an exciting, and unprecedented time for the United States. Our nation is on the verge of re-ordering global energy markets. But to do so, we must recognize our potential and understand the breakthroughs of recent years that have significantly expanded that potential as well as support the policies that will be necessary to continue this revolution.

A look at U.S. gas price charts this week shows the cost of a gallon of gasoline moving ever closer to $4 a gallon. And if you look closely at price charts over the years, you’ll see something else: a pattern of springtime price hikes.

That’s right. Prices vary a lot from one year to the next, but whether they start out low or high, they tend to rise this time of year as refiners begin to suspend operations to switch the type of fuel they make for summer – which leads to less supply and higher prices.   What that means this year is that – while we’re all tired of talking about this disturbing trend and even more tired of paying so much at the pump – it’s likely to get even worse in the coming months. U.S. gas prices, which broke an old record in mid-March, are not likely to peak before the end of May.

If it’s beginning to look a lot like spring across the U.S., this gas price predicament calls to mind Groundhog Day. The movie Groundhog Day, that is. We’re all well aware that U.S. energy policy needs to change and domestic oil supply needs to increase in order to bring gas prices down to more affordable levels. But despite the fact that we hear save warnings every year, our policymakers make the same mistakes and fail to act.

In today’s economic environment where budgets are already tight, we’re seeing signs that our nearly $4-a-gallon gasoline is pushing more families to a breaking point. This informal poll shows the vast majority of households are cutting back on other expenses to adjust for the increasing amounts they’re paying for fuel. Other polls show more than one third of Americans and close to half of those earning less than $50,000 a year consider gas prices a serious hardship. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that, among the lowest-income Americans, gas costs account for more than 10% of income. And a sudden drop in consumer confidence in March has been attributed to the 17% rise in gasoline prices so far this year.

Certainly a renewed commitment today to producing more of our vast domestic energy reserves would contribute to improved consumer confidence and might also bestow some confidence on the oil markets. But what is really needed is a sustained commitment to changing our ways and adopting a better domestic energy policy that is based more on, well domestic energy, better conservation, and less on foreign oil. Otherwise, we only have more of the same to look forward to.