[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1099-S1101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY POLICY

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, back in 2008 then-Senator Obama said that 
under his policies energy costs would necessarily ``skyrocket'' and 
that he would ``have preferred a gradual adjustment to higher gasoline 
prices.'' He indicated at the time that under his policies energy 
prices were going to go up. He mentioned that he would like a more 
gradual adjustment, but when he talked about those policies, he said 
energy costs would necessarily ``skyrocket.''
  I think we now know which of the campaign promises the President has 
kept because we have seen energy prices skyrocket for most Americans. 
In fact, gasoline prices have doubled

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under President Obama's watch. If you look at January 2009, the price 
per gallon of gasoline was $1.85. Today it is $3.73, and some analysts 
are predicting $5-a-gallon gasoline by May of this year. Today marks 
the 24th straight day of gasoline price increases.
  The problem with all this is that the President rhetorically, when he 
goes out and talks about energy, says that he wants an all-of-the-above 
strategy. We always say that imitation is the sincerest form of 
flattery, and obviously that is a phrase many of us as Republicans have 
been using for some time. We talk about an all-of-the-above strategy 
that includes oil and gas and clean coal and nuclear and biofuels and 
solar and wind--all of those. The problem with what the President says 
is that his actions say he really means ``none of the above.'' He says 
``all of the above,'' but he means ``none of the above'' because the 
President has taken unprecedented steps to restrict access to America's 
affordable and reliable sources of oil and natural gas.
  President Obama's energy policies are increasing the cost of gasoline 
in this country. His administration is pursuing new regulations that 
will increase the cost of domestic energy production and destroy jobs. 
More domestic production of energy in this country equals lower prices 
at the pump and more American jobs.
  The President's statements have been punctuated or reinforced by 
members of his administration. I go back to 2008, Dr. Steven Chu, who 
is now President Obama's Energy Secretary, who said at the time:

       Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of 
     gasoline to the levels in Europe.

  Think about that: that somehow we have to figure out how to boost the 
price of gasoline to the levels in Europe. If we look at the levels in 
Europe, I think even at that time we are talking about $9 to $10-per-
gallon gasoline. So we have members of this very administration 
suggesting, even back then, that part of the strategy, the energy 
strategy, was to increase prices. Think about that, having an energy 
strategy that is actually going to drive up the cost of energy to 
people in this country.
  Yesterday, in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, 
now-Secretary Chu, who said back in 2008, ``Somehow we have to figure 
out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,'' was 
asked: But is the overall goal to get our price of gasoline down? That 
was asked by a Member of the House of Representatives, again, as 
Secretary Chu was testifying in front of the House Appropriations 
Committee. Is the overall goal to get our price of gasoline down?
  This is what the Secretary said:

       No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, 
     to build and strengthen our economy.

  When we are literally doubling the price per gallon of gasoline, how 
does that strengthen your economy? Small businesses are faced every 
single day with the high costs of energy. It is an important component 
of running a business in this country. Energy is probably one of the 
most important costs people are going to deal with. It certainly is in 
my part of the country, where I represent an agricultural economy. 
American families are looking at gasoline prices that literally have 
doubled since this President took office. Yet here is the Secretary of 
Energy, the very guy who was to guide energy policy in this country, in 
front of a House committee as recently as yesterday, when asked about 
the overall goal, whether the overall goal is to get the price of 
gasoline down, he said no. It squares perfectly with what he said 4 
years ago when he indicated that we need to figure out how to somehow 
boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.
  That is an amazing statement. I think it is almost incomprehensible 
to the American people in terms of what it means to their daily lives 
because they are the people who ultimately, in their pocketbooks, have 
to deal with the consequences of bad policies--bad policies that raise 
the price of energy and make it more difficult for them to balance 
their budgets and to be able to continue to enjoy the standard of 
living and quality of life in this country.
  Yesterday Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar defended the Obama 
administration's failure of an energy policy when testifying before the 
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He said:

       We have an energy strategy and a policy that we have been 
     working on from day one, and we believe it continues to show 
     good results.

  Think about that.

       We have an energy strategy and a policy that we have been 
     working on from day one, and we believe it continues to show 
     good results.

  I don't know how you can argue that doubling the price for a gallon 
of gasoline is a good result. And literally taking areas out of 
production in this country that could be yielding energy, that would 
help reduce the dependence we have on foreign sources of energy, drive 
down the price at the pump and create American jobs is a good result? I 
don't know how you can argue that what has happened during this 
administration's time in office has been anything but disastrous for 
the American people, for American business, and for the continued 
dependency we have on foreign sources of energy.
  President Obama rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have 
created 20,000 shovel-ready jobs and delivered up to 830,000 barrels of 
oil per day from Canada, America's largest trading partner.
  President Obama has reduced the number of offshore leases by half. 
President Obama has blocked exploration and production on 97 percent of 
offshore areas; 97 percent of those areas that could be useful in 
helping meet America's energy needs have been put off limits by this 
President, by his policies that blocked exploration and production in 
those very areas.
  Under the Obama administration, new permits to drill in Federal 
onshore and offshore areas have declined by 40 to 50 percent.
  That is the President's record on energy. How his Secretary of the 
Interior can say their energy strategy shows good results is beyond me. 
It is completely at odds with the reality and with the facts.
  The Obama administration is implementing a national backdoor energy 
tax through unprecedented regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under 
the Clean Air Act, specifically targeting the oil and gas industry with 
new regulations, such as new source performance standards, Boiler MACT, 
and tier 3 gasoline standards that could drive up the cost of gasoline 
production by 25 cents, raise the refining industry's operating costs 
by $5 to $7 billion annually, lead to a 7- to 14-percent reduction in 
gasoline supplies from U.S. refiners, and force as many as seven U.S. 
refineries to shut down. That is the tier 3 gasoline standard the Obama 
administration is proposing. Time after time, opportunity after 
opportunity is missed.
  This President continues to put policies in place that make it more 
difficult and more expensive to create jobs and raises the cost of 
doing business by raising the cost of energy and raising the costs that 
every American consumer has to deal with in the form of higher gasoline 
prices.
  When he says he supports an ``all-of-the-above'' energy plan, his 
policies tell a very different story because his policies have 
discouraged increased production of oil, and high oil costs are indeed 
a key driver of gasoline costs. Republicans support a real all-of-the-
above strategy, and that includes production in all sources of energy. 
It includes support of projects such as the Keystone XL Pipeline that 
will strengthen America's energy security, and we have to have a robust 
energy plan focused on increasing those areas of domestic production 
that will send a strong signal to energy markets around the world to 
make America less vulnerable to skyrocketing gasoline prices.
  It is interesting the response on Capitol Hill to this spike in 
gasoline prices we have seen over the past several days is along these 
lines. There was a letter from Senator Schumer to Secretary Clinton a 
couple of days ago in which he talked about the skyrocketing fuel 
prices and directly linked those to the global energy market but 
suggested that the solution should be urging the State Department to 
work with the Government of Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production 
to its actual capacity of 12.5 million barrels to help stabilize 
markets.

  Instead of developing American resources and actually doing something

[[Page S1101]]

that would lessen the dependence we have on these foreign sources of 
energy, the solution proposed by some of our colleagues--at least some 
of our Democratic colleagues--is to have Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton go to the Saudis, hat in hand, and beg them to increase daily 
production by 2.5 million barrels, ironically at the very time they are 
blocking policies that would help generate that same 2.5 million 
barrels a day right here in the United States and stabilize world 
markets.
  In fact, if we look at many of these areas that are off limits to 
production today--the North Slope of Alaska, the Atlantic Outer 
Continental Shelf, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Outer 
Continental Shelf, the Keystone XL Pipeline--if we add up the amount of 
production that will bring to our country, it adds up to 4.5 million 
barrels a day, 4.5 million barrels per day of additional energy 
production that we could be benefiting from and enjoying at a time when 
we are seeing gas prices literally double.
  Of course, in accordance with the President's promise when he was 
running for office that prices were going to skyrocket, it should not 
come as any surprise. But these energy policies implemented by this 
administration have literally created a situation where we are now 
having to go and ask the Saudis: Please, would you please give us an 
additional 2.5 million barrels of oil a day instead of opening the 
areas that could generate up to 4.5 million barrels per day if we would 
simply develop the resources we have in this country and quit blocking 
the access to these important energy resources.
  This is a fairly straightforward issue for the American people, No. 
1, because it hits very squarely in their daily lives. The pocketbook 
issues, the bread-and-butter issues, the issues people discuss around 
their tables every day are the issues that I think are most important 
to America right now, particularly with a down economy and high 
unemployment rates. Certainly, what we are seeing in terms of energy 
costs makes that situation worse for American families. In fact, the 
payroll tax holiday which was extended a couple of weeks ago will 
actually be eaten up, any savings that might be achieved to the 
American family's pocketbook will literally be eaten up simply by 
paying the higher costs of gasoline that are going to be imposed on 
every American family as a result of these higher prices, again, that 
simply are the result of us not having enough supply.
  This is a market situation. Gasoline is a global commodity. When we 
have more supply, it brings the price down. When we have more domestic 
production, it means two things: it means lower prices at the pump for 
American consumers, and it means more jobs for American workers. 
Blocking access to American sources of energy production means higher 
prices at the pump for American consumers and fewer jobs for American 
workers. It is that straightforward. It is that simple.
  The American people understand that. That is why the policies this 
administration is pursuing--and, clearly, from the statements that are 
being made by these members of the President's administration, from 
Secretary Chu to Secretary Salazar to the President himself--suggest, 
if you can believe this--unfathomable, I am sure, to many Americans--
that it is intentional to actually push those prices higher.
  That is what Secretary Chu said back in 2008: We need to boost our 
prices to the level they are seeing in places such as Europe.
  I think the American people believe differently about that. I believe 
they deserve better. They want policies that lower the cost of energy 
and make America less dependent upon dangerous foreign regimes. I know 
many of us--Republicans in the Senate--are ready to go to work putting 
those policies in place if the President and his allies in the Senate 
will give us that opportunity.
  I yield the floor.

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