[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  OIL INDUSTRY WILL BE UNABLE TO MEET WORLD DEMAND OVER NEXT 25 YEARS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the oil industry admitted this week that it 
will be unable to meet world demand over the next 25 years. In case 
anyone still needed a wake-up call about the importance of energy 
independence, surely, that is that call.
  Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reported on page 2 that a U.S. 
government-commissioned study, a study conducted by the oil industry 
itself, reveals that oil and gas supplies will not keep pace with 
worldwide demand through the year 2030.
  According to the oil industry study, demand is expected to increase 
between 50 and 60 percent due to mounting consumption in the developed 
world, plus the growing economies of China and India.
  According to the Journal, the finding suggests that far from being 
temporary, high energy prices are likely for decades to come. The 
study's conclusions appear to be the first explicit concession by the 
petroleum industry itself that it cannot meet the burgeoning global 
demand for oil, which may rise as much as 120 million barrels a day by 
2030 up from 84 million barrels a day currently.
  These findings are consistent with what the United States Government 
already reported in February through the Energy Information 
Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. They projected world 
liquids demand to increase to 117 million barrels per day in 2030.
  They also projected the real price of crude oil in 2030 to be about 
$95 in nominal terms, which would be over $59 a barrel in this year's 
dollars, and the price of natural gas to be $9.50 per 1,000 cubic feet. 
In other words, the U.S. Government itself, through the Energy 
Information Administration, an arm of our Department of Energy, 
acknowledges we will become more dependent on foreign energy in coming 
years. Not less dependent, but more dependent. Not more independent, 
but more dependent. To me, that is not acceptable.
  For the consumer, it means higher and higher gasoline prices. For the 
economy, it means higher trade deficits and slower growth. For our 
Government, for our Nation, it means less independence, greater 
entanglements and likely more wars.
  President Bush has talked about energy independence. But what has he 
really done? In his most recent State of the Union, he talked about 
ending our addiction to oil and everybody dutifully applauded, but we 
are more dependent on foreign energy sources today than we were 6 years 
ago when he mouthed the words, indeed. Under his administration, this 
country is importing 1 billion more barrels of oil since he first took 
office. Today, we are importing three-quarters of the petroleum it 
takes to drive this economy.
  Now, the Presidential candidates are criss-crossing our country, and 
each candidate has a piece in their stump speech that mentions the 
words, ``energy independence.'' But will any of them deliver anything 
significant on these promises?
  I have introduced a number of bills which will move America toward 
real energy independence. My Biofuels Energy Independence Act of 2007, 
H.R. 2218, protects our feedstocks from commodity price distortions, 
and we see what's happening in the ethanol market and the biodiesel 
market today. We ought to have broad ownership of that industry and not 
allow the cartelized structure that characterizes today's oil and gas 
industry to be repeated in this new biofuels sector.
  I am proud to be part of a coalition here supporting H.R. 969, a bill 
to expand the renewable energy standard and the renewable energy 
portfolio to spawn new energy production in this country and new 
business and new jobs related to it, to capture all those dollars that 
we are siphoning up and sending to other countries, to turn those 
around and bring them back home.
  I have a bill to supplement the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, H.R. 
682, with domestically produced biofuels. Soon I will be introducing 
the Energy Smart Communities Act that encourages and aids local 
jurisdiction undertaking energy efficiency initiatives, including solar 
roofs and wind turbines across our country.
  My goal has always been simple, to devote the resources it will take 
to reinvent our economy and transform our energy portfolio in this 
century, in the first decade of this century. Our Nation is, indeed, at 
a crossroads, and the stakes are in plain sight. Do we travel the road 
of independence, creating jobs here at home, making affordable energy 
available to our consumers and businesses, or do we remain in the grip 
of the petrol kingdoms of the Middle East?
  Do we issue a new declaration of energy and independence from foreign 
control, or do we allow our foreign policy to be perverted by our 
addiction to oil? Do we get serious about climate change and move 
aggressively to develop cleaner, safer, alternative fuels, or do we 
leave our future in the hands of the world oil oligarchy? The choice is 
ours.

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