ISSUE BRIEF: Support More Affordable and Clean American Energy
Americans in the Heartland, the West, and everywhere from Coast to Coast, deserve the benefits of American energy from our oceans
The Issue:
Currently, the federal government in Washington, D.C. prevents America from accessing some of its most promising homegrown energy resources. The result: an unnecessary continuation of our nation's dependence on foreign countries for our energy needs. Currently, the United States imports more than 60% of its oil from abroad. There’s an enormous and largely untapped domestic energy resource that can be found on publicly owned lands in the oceans off the U.S. – known as the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – if federal laws and regulations are changed to allow responsible access.
These public resources, like many resources on onshore federal lands, are just waiting to be developed. Doing so would both help lower heating and electricity costs for American families and businesses and lessen our dependence for energy from unstable regions of the world.
This is also a “states’ rights” issue. Several coastal states want to develop these resources in an environmentally sound way. However, the same short-sighted, top-down, anti-access federal policies that prevent the development of many onshore public resources currently place insurmountable burdens to the development this ocean energy. Giving states the ability to develop on adjacent offshore public lands is consistent with the philosophy of allowing states with large amounts of federal lands within their jurisdiction a greater say as to how those lands are managed. The same short-sighted, top-down, anti-access federal policies that prevent the development of many onshore public resources currently place insurmountable burdens to the development this ocean energy. The current federal moratorium on offshore drilling prevents even willing states from developing the resources off their coasts. Individual states should have the ability to determine whether to allow drilling on adjacent offshore lands.
Offshore development is in the U.S. national interest as a means of improving energy security, diversifying supply, economic development and generating local, state and federal revenue. In addition, modern technology allows us to cleanly produce this energy while protecting the environment.
Impacts on the West:
The Mineral Management Service (MMS) estimates the OCS contains nearly 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This is enough natural gas to heat 100 million homes for 60 years or enough oil to replace current Persian Gulf imports for 59 years. However, due to congressional moratoria and administrative withdrawals, roughly 80 percent of is currently off-limits to oil and gas production.
Recent increases in oil and natural gas prices resulting from growing U.S. and global demand has not been matched by equivalent increases in available supplies. Unless supply can be increased, prices will continue to rise. A survey recently completed by the National Association for Business Economics found that high energy prices are the biggest short-term problem facing the U.S. economy.
Solutions:
- Let Washington know you support reasonable access to America’s onshore and offshore energy resources, which will help lower energy prices and reduce our reliance of foreign countries!
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