[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 88 (Monday, June 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1259-E1260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ANNUAL ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS, ILLINOIS

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                           HON. HENRY J. HYDE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 16, 2003

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, every year in my district, I ask students in 
grades 8th and 12th to participate in an essay contest. This year's 
contest focused on the issue of energy and national security. 
Specifically, this year's essay question was as follows: ``How 
important is energy to our economy and our national security?''
  I am pleased that so many students chose to enter this essay contest. 
Unfortunately, however, there can only be one winner in each group: 8th 
grade and 12th' grade. This year's 8th grade winner was Dina LaSala, 
who attends St. Charles Borromeo School in Bensenville, Illinois. The 
12th grade winner was Jane Urban, who attends Glenbard West High School 
in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
  This is Miss LaSala's essay, entitled ``How Important Is Energy to 
Our Economy and Our National Security?'':

       In aftermath of September 11th terrorist attacks, Americans 
     are asking our government to strengthen national security. 
     The immediate focus must be to secure our homeland from 
     future attacks, but we also must take steps to safeguard the 
     long-term health of our economy, the livelihood of America's 
     workers and our environment.
       Earlier this year, President Bush sent Congress his 
     National Energy Plan, a blueprint for ensuring America's 
     future against the perils of an unstable world. The plan 
     includes 105 recommendations on improving energy efficiency 
     and conservation, protecting the environment, diversifying 
     our energy supplies through development of renewable 
     resources, and reducing our reliance on foreign energy. A 
     bipartisan majority in the United States House of 
     Representatives passed this plan in August. It is imperative 
     the Senate does likewise.
       A key component of the president's plan is the development 
     of energy resources on federal lands, including the coastal 
     plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR.) ANWR is 
     considered the nation's largest potential new oil field and 
     was specially designated by Congress for further study of its 
     oil and gas potential in 1980.
       At a time when our country is experiencing an economic 
     downturn, development of this area would give a major boost 
     to our economy and American workers, directly or indirectly 
     creating as many as 735,000 new jobs across the country, 
     including 135,000 construction jobs.
       It would also give American greater energy independence at 
     a time when more than half of our nation's oil comes from 
     foreign sources, a figure that is rising and could exceed 65 
     percent imports by the year 2020. The United States needs oil 
     imports, but the current crisis underscores the importance of 
     having our own healthy domestic supply. A conservative 
     estimate is that ANWR would yield 7.7 billion barrels of oil, 
     an amount roughly equal to 20 years of imports from Saddam 
     Hussein's Iraq. The higher end estimates equal 50-year's 
     worth. ANWR could easily provide more than 20 percent of our 
     domestic oil production.
       This is especially important considering United States' 
     energy production is not keeping up with our growing 
     consumption, creating a rapidly increasing gap between 
     domestic supply and demand. Over the next 20 years, even with 
     increased conservation programs, United States' domestic oil 
     production is calculated to decline by 1.5 million barrels 
     per day, while demand will increase by 6 million barrels per 
     day.
       Earlier this year, we saw the effect energy shortages can 
     have on our economy and quality of life. Californians 
     experienced rolling blackouts. Gas prices rose to new highs 
     last spring and summer. At a time like this, we must not turn 
     our back on an important domestic source of energy.
       We can develop a small portion of ANWR while guarding the 
     environment. The administration is urging that the ANWR 
     legislation impose the toughest environmental standards ever 
     applied to oil production. For example, it would limit the 
     surface disruption caused by drilling to only 2,000 acres of 
     the 1.5 million set aside for oil exploration within the 19.6 
     total acres contained in ANWR.
       The men and women who work in the oil fields will be 
     specially trained to protect the environment. This will 
     ensure a well-qualified work force will take every precaution 
     necessary to preserve the environment integrity of the Arctic 
     Coastal Plain. In addition, oil-field technology has advanced 
     significantly in the 30 years since oil development began on 
     Alaska's Prudhoe Bay. We have the capacity to extract oil 
     while still protecting the Arctic ecosystem by increasing the 
     length of directional drills and allowing for smaller and 
     more compact production pads.
       With American ingenuity and innovative technologies, we can 
     protect the environment and provide energy security. We have 
     the opportunity to take action before we face a devastating 
     crisis. We must embrace a long-term energy plan that allows 
     for protection of our environment, more efficient use of 
     energy and increased development of domestic energy sources. 
     Our long-term national security depends on it.

[[Page E1260]]

  This is Miss Urban's essay, entitled ``Liquid Gold Lacks Luster in 
the New Economy'':

       Oil has often been referred to as ``liquid gold,'' but this 
     commodity can also be an extremely volatile and obstreperous 
     substance plaguing the United States. America's continued 
     dependence on foreign oil is a serious threat to the success 
     of its economy as well as to the security of the nation, 
     especially as the war on terrorism is waged on Iraq and the 
     flow of this ``liquid gold'' is disrupted. Not only must 
     Americans understand this serious energy problem, but also 
     new and viable solutions must be crafted in order to 
     prevent the United States' dependence on foreign oil from 
     becoming an oil slick into disaster.
       The economic implications of dependence on foreign oil are 
     staggering, especially when the U.S. has not been able to 
     disentangle itself from oil providers, such as the member 
     nations of OPEC, who directly oppose the American way of 
     life. Unless the United States is able to wean itself from a 
     constant flow of OPEC oil, the economy will continue to 
     struggle well after the war against Iraq is over. Some of the 
     fluctuations in the oil market come, surprisingly, not from 
     foreign pricing, but from internal governmental regulations. 
     In September of 2000, President Clinton released thirty 
     million barrels of oil from the government oil reserves in 
     order to alleviate high prices. While this action was a 
     temporary fix for rising prices, when President George W. 
     Bush replenished the thirty million barrels, oil prices rose 
     significantly, more than the release in 2000 lowered them. 
     Thus, governmental regulation of oil has not proved helpful, 
     but rather this kind of intervention only further aggravates 
     problems in the United States as it endures rising oil 
     prices. Overall, the issue of economic repercussions for U.S. 
     dependence on foreign oil is long lasting and serious for the 
     future of the U.S. economy.
       National security is greatly compromised as the U.S. 
     continues to depend on foreign oil supplies. Nothing proves 
     this point more than the risks involved with a war in Iraq 
     and the possible loss of oil reserves for the United States' 
     consumption. According to a House Committee on International 
     Relations hearing on oil diplomacy of June 20, 2002, Spencer 
     Abraham, the Secretary of Energy, stated that the U.S. holds 
     only 2 percent of the world's oil reserves while the Middle 
     East has nearly two-thirds of the World's oil reserves. These 
     discouraging numbers leave the United States in a very 
     delicate international relationship with oil-rich nations, 
     complicating America's ability to insure its national 
     security while facing a continuing threat from terrorism.
       Both for the economy and in regard to national security, 
     new sources for oil need to be discovered to eliminate the 
     degree of dependence the United States has on foreign oil. To 
     that end, some possibilities for new directions in energy 
     supply include using cleaner more efficient fuels, utilizing 
     renewable fuel sources, opening new geographic regions for 
     oil, expanding duel refining, building nuclear power plants, 
     and developing new technology in the transportation industry. 
     Cleaner, more efficient fuels not only allow for greater 
     environmental protection, but they also provide for better 
     miles per gallon, a standard that has already been raised to 
     alleviate energy crises in Europe and will help Americans 
     drive farther using less oil. Renewable energy resources 
     include air, water, and solar sources, all of which are both 
     environmentally friendly and readily available. While some of 
     these alternatives have initially high costs, their long-term 
     benefits might far outweigh the initial expense. New 
     geographic regions for oil include much of Central America, 
     Mexico, Venezuela, Canada, Russia, Africa and the Caspian 
     Basin. These areas of the world do not pose as great a 
     threat, both politically and economically, as the OPEC 
     nations. An expansion of fuel refining would allow the United 
     States to process and use more fuel than in the past and the 
     United States could use more of the oil it already has, but 
     has not yet processed. Nuclear power plants are a potential 
     source for more energy, as long as they are made safer and 
     provide for safe disposal of their waste. The transportation 
     industry should be given greater funding and freedom to 
     explore the development of hydrogen cell fuel sources as well 
     as electric powered hybrid cars and solar powered cars. These 
     types of development further alleviate the strain on the 
     nation's resources. Finally, the nation as a whole needs to 
     be come more mindful about energy consumption and greater 
     efforts and campaigns could be launched to help people car 
     pool, take public transportation, or walk whenever possible. 
     To that end, public transportation systems need to be 
     expanded and improved so as to accommodate these new changes 
     in energy use. When all of these efforts are combined, 
     American's reliance on the Middle East for oil can be greatly 
     reduced while American oil prices are held at reasonable 
     levels.
       The impact of these solutions will positively affect both 
     the economy and national security of the United States. 
     Efforts on the part of the government and the energy 
     industry, as well as individual Americans, will bring greater 
     energy independence in the United States. Though oil is 
     ``liquid gold,'' it lacks luster as long as the United 
     States' economy and national security are compromised by 
     America's dependence on foreign energy sources. A significant 
     reduction of such dependence will be achieved as the United 
     States ``brings home the gold'' through a variety of 
     production methods.

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