CAES: Congress Must Build on Modest MMS Proposal

WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced its Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing plan for 2007-2012. The Consumer Alliance on Energy Security, a broad coalition of groups representing millions of Americans whose livelihoods depend on reliable and affordable supplies of energy, issued the following statement:

"U.S. energy policy needs to embrace both energy efficiency and adequate supplies of clean energy to allow economic growth and ongoing environmental improvement. The MMS plan announced today is a modest step toward expanding access to domestic energy supplies in the OCS. We believe the agency should have made more OCS acreage available for development. Despite recent legislative successes to increase access to domestic energy supplies, decades of Congressional inaction keeps more than 80 percent of the OCS off-limits. The abundant natural gas in the OCS is critical to fulfill the needs of American consumers, sustain the nation's manufacturing and agricultural economies and jobs, and enhance energy security.

"It's striking that with the domestic natural gas market severely constrained by federal policy, Congress is considering a raft of new proposals that will significantly increase natural gas demand without addressing the urgent need for more supply. Proposals under development would legislate greater demand for natural gas to generate electricity, produce renewable transportation fuels and create the materials needed to make wind and solar power, lighter weight vehicles, and energy efficient buildings and appliances. While the appeal of natural gas as a clean energy source is evident, current natural gas production simply cannot meet these emerging needs. Given the economic damage the U.S. has suffered from high natural gas prices in recent years, it would simply be irresponsible to create additional demand for natural gas without also allowing supplies to grow.

"These new energy demand pressures should persuade Congress to look for ways to increase access to domestic natural gas supplies, both onshore and offshore. Unfortunately, some members of Congress are moving in the opposite direction. Certain proposals in the House of Representatives would roll back important supply provisions enacted in the last Congress, such as those in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

"American consumers suffer the consequences of Congress's conflicting approach to energy policy. They've learned the hard way that legislating new demand while restricting access to new supply leads to high and volatile prices, 'demand destruction' in the manufacturing sector and huge job losses. Between 2000 and 2005 rising demand combined with policy-induced scarce supplies led to a $425 billion increase in the nation's natural gas costs and contributed to the loss of more than three million manufacturing jobs as well as huge increases in the costs farmers incur to produce food and fiber for our nation. And consumers' natural gas heating bills have more than doubled from an average $465 in the winter of 2001-2002 to $946 in 2005-2006.

"At the very least, Congress should support MMS's limited efforts to expand access to the nation's energy supplies while rejecting any proposal that would roll back existing supply policies. With a true understanding of the nation's impending energy requirements, Congress should go further, address the supply requirements inherent in its proposals and develop supply policies equal to America's energy demand growth."

  3-D Fertilizer
  60 Plus Association
  Agriculture Energy Alliance
  American Association of Petroleum Geologists
  American Chemistry Council
  American Forest & Paper Association
  American Gas Association
  American Highway Users Alliance
  American Iron and Steel Institute
  American Plant Food Corporation
  American Policy Center
  American Public Gas Association
  American Farm Bureau Federation
  Americans for American Energy
  Americans for Tax Reform
  Arkansas Plant Food Association
  Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
  Bear Trust International
  Ben-Trei Ltd.
  Boone & Crockett Club
  Brandt Consolidated
  California League of Food Processors
  CF Industries
  Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
  CHS Inc.
  Citizens Against Recreation Eviction - USA
  Coalition of AZ/NM Counties
  Coalitions for America
  CoBank (CO)
  Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
  Competitive Enterprise Institute
  Congress of Racial Equality
  Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
  Consumer Alliance for Energy Security
  Consumer Energy Alliance
  Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
  Council of Industrial Boiler Owners
  D.B. Western, Inc. - Texas
  Dallas Safari Club
  Delaware Maryland Agribusiness Association
  Department of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tulsa
  Diamond of California
  Discovery Institute
  Dominion
  Ducks Unlimited
  DuPont
  Edison Electric Institute
  Association of American State Geologists
  Environmental Perspectives, Inc.
  Ethan Allen Institute
  Free Enterprise Action Fund
  FreedomWorks
  Frontiers of Freedom
  Geothermal Energy Association
  Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
  GROWMARK, Inc.
  Hartung Brothers, Inc.
  Hawaiian Alliance for Responsible Technology and Science
  Helena Chemical Company
  Independent Petroleum Association of America
  Industrial Energy Consumers of America
  Industrial Minerals Association
  Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation
  International Chemical Corporation
  International Commodities Export Corporation
  International Raw Materials Ltd.
  Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission
  Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
  Jim Hicks & Company
  Kansas Taxpayers Network
  Knox Theological Seminary
  Land O' Lakes, Inc.
  Louisiana Ammonia Producers
  Maine Heritage Policy Center
  MDU Resources Group
  MFA Incorporated
  Mississippi Center for Public Policy
  Missouri Ag Industries Council, Inc.
  Monsanto Company
  Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association
  National Association of Counties
  National Association of Manufacturers
  National Center for Policy Analysis
  National Center for Public Policy Research
  National Chicken Council
  National Defense Council Foundation
  National Mining Association
  National Petrochemical & Refiners Association
  National Shooting Sports Foundation
  National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association
  National Sunflower Association
  National Turkey Federation
  North American Bear Foundation
  North American Grouse Partnership
  Northwest Mining Association
  Nucor Corporation
  Ohio Manufacturers Association
  Ontario Hardwood Co., Inc.
  Partnership for America
  Pope and Young Club
  PotashCorp
  Quail Unlimited
  Quality Deer Management Association
  Religious Freedom Action Committee
  Safari Club International
  Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
  Society of American Florists
  Southern States Cooperative, Inc.
  State of Alabama
  State of Louisiana
  State of Mississippi
  State of Texas
  Take Back Pennsylvania
  Tennessee Center for Policy Research
  Terra Industries
  Texas Wildlife Association
  The American Conservative Union
  The Andersons, Inc.
  The McGregor Company
  The Mosaic Company
  The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.
  The Wildlife Society
  Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
  Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
  U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance
  United Suppliers, Inc.
  Virginia Institute for Public Policy
  West Central Inc.
  Western Counties Alliance
  Wildlife Management Institute
  Wildlife Trust Fund
  Xcel Energy
  Printing Industries of America