[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2070-S2071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY POLICY

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the issue that is 
before us today on the floor of the Senate; that is, the issue of high 
gas prices.
  I was at home in Wyoming and filled up again this weekend, as I do 
most weekends, and today the average price of gasoline, regular 
unleaded gasoline nationwide, is $3.91 a gallon. That is about 20 cents 
more than it was a month ago.
  People at home in Wyoming see the prices continue to go up week after 
week. High gasoline prices are causing hardships--hardships for 
American families and American businesses. When families pay more at 
the pump, they can't spend money on other goods and services. For 
families dealing with kids and a mortgage and bills, they know the 
specific impact as they fill their car or truck and see that price rise 
to the point where it is most, if not more, than $100 to fill the tank. 
Also, when companies pay more for gasoline, they have less money to 
expand their businesses. That hurts job creation in this country.
  Wyoming families and Wyoming businesses know this all too well 
because in Wyoming we drive longer distances than most Americans. The 
President also knows this, and that is why he continues to give 
speeches on energy. It is clear that the President is defensive on this 
issue. I have heard the speeches, and I say: Pay less attention to what 
he says and pay more attention to what he does.
  The average price of a gallon of gasoline, regular unleaded gasoline, 
is over 100 percent higher than it was when President Obama took 
office. I will say that again. The price of gasoline is over 100 
percent higher than it was when President Obama took office. It is 
clear that the President's policies are contributing to higher gas 
prices, but instead of changing course President Obama and Democrats in 
Congress are doubling down on bad policies and desperate schemes.
  Here is an example. One Senate Democrat--someone across the aisle 
from me--said: Let's ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. That is 
exactly what he said. He said his solution is to ask the Secretary of 
State to ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. Now President Obama and 
Senate Democrats want to raise taxes on American oil production. So we 
are going to ask Saudi Arabia to produce more and yet raise taxes on 
those who are producing American oil. So the President and the 
Democrats want more oil from Saudi Arabia, and they also want to make 
it more expensive to produce American energy.
  The legislation on the floor doesn't make sense, and the American 
people recognize that it doesn't make sense. Americans know that if you 
want less of something, you tax it more. They also know that if you 
want to increase the cost of something, you tax it more. Raising taxes 
increases the cost for consumers, and that is, in effect, what 
President Obama and Senate Democrats are doing with this legislation. 
They are proposing increasing gas prices by increasing taxes. Even the 
author of this legislation has said that ``nobody has made the claim 
that this bill is about reducing gas prices.''
  So, then, why would President Obama want to increase gas prices 7 
months before a Presidential election? Well, it appears to me it is 
because his political base fiercely opposes fossil fuels. Now that 
should not surprise anyone. We have seen this before. Of course, I am 
referring to the President's rejection recently of the Keystone XL 
Pipeline, bringing energy from Canada into the United States. The 
Keystone XL Pipeline would have created thousands of good-paying jobs 
for Americans. The President said no. The Keystone XL Pipeline would 
have facilitated oil production in Montana and in North Dakota. The 
President said no. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have increased 
supplies of oil from Canada. The President said no--to the point that 
the Prime Minister of Canada actually went to China to ask if they 
would buy the energy from Canada if the United States is not 
interested.
  So why would the President reject it? Well, because his political 
base has fiercely opposed the pipeline. Now the President wants to have 
it both ways. He would like to please his political base as well as the 
American public. That is why the administration wants to go hat in hand 
and ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. It is also why the President 
is considering plans to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  This will be the second time President Obama tapped the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve. Last June, if you will recall, the President 
released 30 million barrels of oil from the Reserve. Prior to that, it 
had only been tapped twice for emergencies since 1975. So between 1975 
and June of 2011, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve had only been tapped 
twice for emergencies. It was tapped in 1991 upon the outbreak of the 
Persian Gulf war, and it was tapped following Hurricane Katrina. In 
both instances those were real disruptions of the supply of oil to the 
United States.
  But when President Obama tapped the Strategic Reserve last year, 
there was no substantial prospect of a supply disruption. His decision 
at the time was based on politics, as would be his decision to tap it 
now. That is why Jay Leno recently called the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve President Obama's ``Strategic Re-Election Reserve.''
  Well, my Republican colleagues and I think there are other ways to 
address high gas prices. The other thing is, when they tapped the 
Strategic Reserve last year and took out the 30 million barrels, they 
did not actually refill it, so that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is 
not filled up right now. It is lower. Just to fill it back to where it 
should be, its baseline level, would cost actually almost $1 billion 
more than they got when they sold the oil last year.
  I believe there are things we should be doing and can do that will 
enhance, not jeopardize, our Nation's security and specifically our 
Nation's energy security. We understand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
is for emergencies, not political disasters; and we understand if we 
want more of something or if we want to lower the cost of something, we 
do not raise taxes on it. What we do is make it easier to produce the 
product. That is why my Republican colleagues and I support making it 
easier to produce American energy, and it is why we are asking the 
President to make it easier to produce American energy--not harder, not 
more expensive but easier.
  A few weeks ago, we learned oil and gas production on Federal lands 
and waters is down. Specifically, we learned there was a 14-percent 
decrease in oil production on Federal public lands and waters from 2010 
to 2011 and an 11-percent decrease in gas production from 2010 to 2011.

[[Page S2071]]

  Again, the President has not made it easier, but he must make it 
easier to produce American energy. The President can begin by 
increasing the number of permits issued for exploration in the Gulf of 
Mexico. It is my understanding there are only 25 deepwater rigs active 
in the gulf right now. I understand 34 deepwater rigs were active in 
the gulf at this time in 2010. The administration needs to approve more 
permits and to do it immediately.
  The President should also increase access to other offshore areas. He 
should provide access to offshore areas in the Atlantic and the Pacific 
Oceans. In November, the President proposed an offshore oil and gas 
leasing plan that amazingly excluded the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific 
Ocean. He excluded areas off the coast of Virginia, even though both of 
the Senators from Virginia who are Democrats, as well as the Governor 
of Virginia who is a Republican, all support such exploration.
  The President should also increase access to onshore areas. The 
President should open areas of Alaska, and we should support proposals 
to open ANWR. Both Senators--a Democrat and a Republican--and the 
Governor of Alaska strongly support opening ANWR for energy 
exploration. The President should too.
  The President should also take steps to facilitate onshore production 
in the West. Specifically, the President should scrap new regulations 
requiring ``Master Leasing and Development Plans.'' These regulations 
were put into place over 2 years ago by the Secretary of the Interior. 
It is unclear to me why the Secretary issued these regulations. They 
add more redtape, they cause more bureaucratic delay, and they slow 
down American energy production.
  Of course, there are other regulations that are driving up the cost 
of American energy--specifically, the EPA's forthcoming tier 3 
regulations that will affect America's refineries. A recent study shows 
this rule could increase the cost of manufacturing gasoline by 6 to 9 
cents a gallon. This rule could also raise annual compliance costs for 
refineries by billions of dollars. And it will almost certainly 
increase the pain at the pump that is being felt by American families. 
To me this is unacceptable. The President should at the very least 
delay the issuance of this rule.
  In addition to providing more access to Federal lands and waters and 
eliminating burdensome regulations, the President should address 
delivery bottlenecks. Specifically, he should address all the 
bottlenecks the Keystone XL Pipeline would relieve. Here, of course, I 
am referring to the 100,000 barrels of oil each day that Keystone would 
ship from Montana and North Dakota. That is right--homegrown American 
energy from Montana and North Dakota.
  Right now there is not sufficient pipeline capacity out of North 
Dakota and Montana. Do you know how they are getting the oil out of 
there? Well, they are shipping it on trucks and in trains, and that is 
a lot more expensive than shipping it by pipeline.
  The Keystone XL Pipeline would reduce the cost of shipping American 
oil. In addition, the pipeline would ship about 700,000 barrels of oil 
a day from Canada. The Canadian oil would replace oil imports from OPEC 
and thus increase our Nation's energy security. Approving the Keystone 
XL Pipeline is an easy decision, and the President should make that 
decision immediately.
  Again, the President must abandon his support for policies such as 
this legislation that is ahead of us today, which will only increase 
the pain at the pump. He must also abandon plans which will put our 
Nation's security further at risk. Instead, the President must make it 
easier to produce American energy. He should increase access to Federal 
public lands and waters, eliminate costly regulations, and approve the 
Keystone XL Pipeline.
  It is my hope the President will take all of these steps and do so 
immediately so the American public does not continue to suffer the 
significant pain at the pump that continues to affect our country 
today.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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