Amendment would streamline domestic energy development, help stabilize costs for American consumers

WASHINGTON – September 22, 2009   As the US Senate considers an appropriations measure setting aside funds for the US Department of the Interior, Sens. David Vitter (La.), Jim DeMint (S.C.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.) are working to include an amendment in the bill that would streamline and advance energy development along our nation’s outer continental shelf (OCS). Consumer Energy Alliance, which has played a leading role in generating over 150,000 of the more than 350,000 favorable public comments to Secretary Ken Salazar in support of expanded offshore energy production, has urged the Senate to adopt this commonsense provision that would increase domestic energy production, helping to drive down and stabilize prices for American consumers.

CEA president David Holt issued the following statement:

“Our energy security, the price American consumers pay at the pump, and the much-needed jobs and revenues created through environmentally-sound, 21^st century offshore energy development must be addressed head-on. This commonsense amendment helps do that, and it deserves strong bipartisan support in the US Senate.

“This amendment, coupled with the overwhelming support that the American people delivered to the Interior Department for expanded offshore energy production yesterday as the 5-year comment period came to an end, should continue to send a strong message to the policymakers that decisive action is needed to help meet our growing energy needs, put Americans back to work, raise revenues for the local, state and federal governments and help get the US economy rolling again.”

CEA has participated in over 100 events over past three months focused on responsibly increasing American energy production, while ensuring environmental safeguards. Early indications suggest that favorable comments to the Interior Department handily surpass those in opposition to American energy production, which would be in line with virtually all public opinion polling.

Over the past several years, public comments to the Interior Department have overwhelmingly favored increased offshore energy production. During the 2006 period, 72 percent of comments received during four separate comment periods favored increased energy production offshore. In 2008, 53 percent backed domestic OCS energy exploration. And, early indications from yesterday’s close of the public comment period, favorable comments will once again lead groups who are opposed to sensible offshore development by a sizeable margin. American consumers once again voiced clear support for increased energy production.

Amendment would streamline domestic energy development, help stabilize costs for American consumers

WASHINGTON – September 22, 2009   As the US Senate considers an appropriations measure setting aside funds for the US Department of the Interior, Sens. David Vitter (La.), Jim DeMint (S.C.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.) are working to include an amendment in the bill that would streamline and advance energy development along our nation’s outer continental shelf (OCS). Consumer Energy Alliance, which has played a leading role in generating over 150,000 of the more than 350,000 favorable public comments to Secretary Ken Salazar in support of expanded offshore energy production, has urged the Senate to adopt this commonsense provision that would increase domestic energy production, helping to drive down and stabilize prices for American consumers.

CEA president David Holt issued the following statement:

“Our energy security, the price American consumers pay at the pump, and the much-needed jobs and revenues created through environmentally-sound, 21^st century offshore energy development must be addressed head-on. This commonsense amendment helps do that, and it deserves strong bipartisan support in the US Senate.

“This amendment, coupled with the overwhelming support that the American people delivered to the Interior Department for expanded offshore energy production yesterday as the 5-year comment period came to an end, should continue to send a strong message to the policymakers that decisive action is needed to help meet our growing energy needs, put Americans back to work, raise revenues for the local, state and federal governments and help get the US economy rolling again.”

CEA has participated in over 100 events over past three months focused on responsibly increasing American energy production, while ensuring environmental safeguards. Early indications suggest that favorable comments to the Interior Department handily surpass those in opposition to American energy production, which would be in line with virtually all public opinion polling.

Over the past several years, public comments to the Interior Department have overwhelmingly favored increased offshore energy production. During the 2006 period, 72 percent of comments received during four separate comment periods favored increased energy production offshore. In 2008, 53 percent backed domestic OCS energy exploration. And, early indications from yesterday’s close of the public comment period, favorable comments will once again lead groups who are opposed to sensible offshore development by a sizeable margin. American consumers once again voiced clear support for increased energy production.

WASHINGTON – September 21, 2009   Following a letter from nearly 100 House Republicans, led by Reps. Doc Hastings (R-WA), Rob Bishop (R-UT), and Tom Price (R-GA), urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to move forward with a 5-Year offshore energy production plan that would expand safe American energy exploration, Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), along with 15 other House Democrats, wrote the secretary recommending that his agency open the outer continental shelf (OCS) for responsible offshore energy development. Today, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), penned a similar letter to Secretary Salazar.

David Holt, president of Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates an “all of the above” approach to securing, reliable energy, issued this statement:

“Thanks to many of CEA’s thousands of grassroots supporters and a clear majority of the American public, a year ago, the federal government made positive, and long overdue, steps toward balancing the nation’s long-term energy policy through lifting decade-old bans on safe and effective offshore energy production here at home.

“CEA praises the strong bipartisan, bicameral commitment from the congressmen and senators who have taken the concerns of their constituents about affordable energy and access to American resources directly to Secretary Salazar. The groundswell of support for increased domestic energy production continues to grow, and, as an organization, we’re grateful for the steadfastness on this issues that so many members of Congress and senators continue to demonstrate.

“As the Interior Department’s public comment period on the 5-year OCS plan came to a close today, we are hopeful and encouraged that these congressional letters, as well as the hundreds of thousands of supportive comments from every day Americans, will resonate with Secretary Salazar as he and his agency move forward in crafting a blueprint for our offshore energy production goals over the next several years.

“Thousands of good-paying jobs, stable energy prices for small businesses, working-families and retirees and less dependence on unstable regions of the world to fuel our economy will result from the developing domestic oil and gas, and renewable energy offshore. At the same time, we must focus on harnessing more wind, solar, coal, hydro, nuclear, biofuels and other alternatives and renewable energy forms, while using what we have more wisely, too.”

Holt: “What we need now, and what these letters demand, is decisive action from this administration.”

WASHINGTON – September 22, 2009   More than 325,000 American people sent letters to Interior secretary Ken Salazar over the past six months urging his agency to expand responsible access to critical energy resources offshore, and Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) helped deliver more than 150,000 of them. As the public comment period on Interior’s Draft Proposed five-year energy plan came to a close this week, CEA president David Holt issued the following statement:

“The unified voices of Americans concerned with rising, unstable and increasingly unaffordable energy costs cannot be ignored. Thanks to the hard work of so many CEA supporters – as well as other organizations committed to advancing policies that help put our nation on a path toward energy security and affordability – Secretary Salazar will have overwhelming public support on his side if his agency and the administration decide to move forward with a commonsense plan that allows the American people to access more of the energy resources they need, demand and rightfully own.

“While the closure of this comment period marks a very early step in what is designed to be a long, deliberative process, the volume and intensity of public response on whether responsible offshore energy exploration should be part of our energy future suggests the status quo energy policies of the past will no longer be an option in the future. What we need now, and what these letters demand, is decisive action from this administration – not an effort to pocket veto these critical offshore energy resources.

“As the process of developing a forward-looking, supply-oriented five-year plan continues to move forward, CEA will remain active in leading the charge for an ‘all of the above’ approach to securing our energy future – a future that includes renewable energy, conventional energy, and a renewed focus on conservation. CEA and its broad-based membership including transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, small business, chemistry, restaurants, retirees and energy providers will continue to provide a platform for the American people to make their views and voices heard in Washington.”

NOTE: Click HERE to view CEA’s official comment letter to MMS.

September 16, 2009

Ms. Renee Orr
Mr. James F. Bennett
U.S. Minerals Management Service
381 Elden Street
Herndon, Virginia 20170

RE: Support for the Five-Year Offshore Leasing Program

Dear Ms. Orr and Mr. Bennett:

On behalf of Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), I am pleased to submit the following comments expressing our strong support for the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil & Gas Leasing Program for 2010 to 2015 (DPP) proposed by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). By opening up new offshore areas in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Alaska to oil and natural gas development, and allowing for the possibility of offshore alternative energy development, the new Five-Year Program will provide the nation with the opportunity to responsibly produce our own energy, an effort that will significantly benefit our economy by creating domestic jobs and decreasing our dependence on foreign energy.

CEA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to working with elected leaders, affected stakeholders and consumers to help create sound energy policy and maintain stable energy prices. We support improved domestic and global energy security and provide information on expanding the use of all energy resources, including oil, natural gas and alternative energy, and increasing energy efficiency. CEA has more than 120 affiliated organizations, including energy suppliers and providers, manufacturers, small businesses, and community organizations, as well as a nationwide network of more than 180,000 consumer-advocates.

Destabilizing price volatility is at the core of some of the country’s most pressing security and economic issues. Unfortunately, increasingly unstable energy prices are likely to continue to rise as supplies tighten and long-term speculators impact the market as they face troubling global energy realities. Industries, businesses and citizens across the country have witnessed first-hand significant job loss and continue to suffer from a stagnant economy.

It is more important than ever that the federal government allow access to all offshore energy supplies made available in the Five-Year Program for 2010-2015. CEA strongly supports the Department’s action to initiate the development of a new Five-Year Program following the removal of both the Congressional and Executive OCS moratoria in 2008. Offering new lease opportunities in the Atlantic and Pacific ultimately provides the Administration with maximum flexibility to properly utilize our domestic energy resources, while responding to various communities who have shown a keen interest in developing their natural resources.

Simply put, providing for sensible, effective energy policy that safely develops our resources will help industries that rely on crude oil and natural gas, strengthen our national security, and supply much needed jobs as we open new areas to development and spur economic growth.

Additionally, CEA hopes that the federal government will continue to move forward with the previous 2007-2012 Five-Year Program for all available leasing areas, including the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and offshore Alaska, while working to approve the Five-Year Program for 2010-2015.

CEA is pleased to see that the federal government has opened up the Five-Year Program to include new leasing areas, while accurately acknowledging the need for the United States to begin responsibly developing the abundant energy resources located offshore. We believe that finalizing a Five-Year Program for 2010-2015 – as well as sensible action by Congress to provide states with a fair share of revenues derived from production off their coasts – is important for creating a robust national energy policy and securing our energy future.

Consumer Energy Alliance is committed to working cooperatively with the MMS, affected stakeholders and consumers to ensure U.S. energy policy accurately reflects our growing need to enhance U.S. energy security, properly protect our environment, expand our domestic resource base and work toward the thoughtful, utilization of all domestic energy resources.

Very sincerely yours,

David E. Holt
President

Letter to Gen. Jones comes on heels of China’s $1.7 billion investment in two Alberta oil sands projects, State Department approval of Alberta Clipper

HOUSTON – September 18, 2009   How could the passage of a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in Washington adversely impact U.S. security, all while costing American workers thousands of high-wage jobs and billions in lost revenue? That’s the question Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) president David Holt put before President Obama’s national security advisor today, asking Gen. James L. Jones and the National Security Council to take a closer look at the security consequences underlying an LCFS. A copy of the letter can be accessed here.

“Fundamental to the future of America’s security is the extent to which our ability to access secure, affordable North American energy supplies is protected, preserved and responsibly expanded,” said Holt, whose 120-plus member organization advocates the thoughtful use of a broad array of renewable, alternative and conventional energy sources, while also promoting conservation. “A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard represents a direct attack on that future, putting in place new bans on secure, Canadian energy at precisely the time we should be doing everything we can to reinforce those ties, strengthen them, and leverage the availability of secure, affordable energy to create jobs, revenues and opportunity here at home.”

Last month, the State Department granted a key permit to the Alberta Clipper project — upon completion, a pipeline through which 450,000 barrels of secure, Canadian energy is expected to travel its way to the United States each day. The imposition of an LCFS, however, aims to prevent that Canadian energy from crossing the border, forcing Americans to fill that vacuum with energy from foreign, often unstable suppliers.

In full recognition of the LCFS threat, Canada recently opened its doors to a major investment in its oil sands region by the Chinese government, as the state-owned oil giant PetroChina inked a $1.7 billion USD deal to develop two separate projects in Alberta. Previous to this news, it was always assumed that the majority of energy derived from Canada’s oil sands would be made available to the United States. After it, those who viewed the oil sands as a one-buyer market were thoroughly disabused of that notion.

“From the start, LCFS advocates have premised their support on the idea that all you’d need to destroy the Canadian oil sands market is have Congress pass an LCFS, and thus ban that energy from crossing the U.S. border,” added Holt. “China’s investment in the region should put an end to all that talk. They want this energy, are prepared to come take it, and in the process of using it, will emit significantly more carbon dioxide than if that energy was sent to its original destination. The upshot? American security is weakened, our economy takes a serious hit, and a major world competitor gains access to a secure, affordable resource right in our front yard.”

NOTE: Click HERE to view full text of the letter, which was sent to Gen. James L. Jones and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Click HERE to view the Reuters piece filed on this issue. And visit SecureOurFuels.org to view our latest television and radio ads, and learn more about how an LCFS will increase energy costs for American consumers and expand our dependence on foreign, unstable regions of the world to fuel our economy.