Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this important hearing on the great promise of offshore oil and gas production.

 

I have said on many occasions that a strong energy policy means utilizing a diverse supply that encompasses a spectrum of energy sources and technologies.  And, it also means meeting our responsibility to deploy these resources in a smart, efficient and environmentally sound way.  It is unacceptable to speak of energy independence on the one hand, while supporting a moratorium that locks up 85% of the OCS acreage on the other. 

 

While vast resources on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts provide us with hope, this promise is an uncertain one.  Based on old inventory data, we are told that the Atlantic and Pacific together contain nearly 17 billion barrels of oil and nearly 70 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  Despite this promise, for twenty-five years the Interior Appropriations moratorium has quietly barred us from producing in vast areas of the OCS.  This moratorium locks up our nation’s resources and weakens our foreign policy, national security and economic strength.  This is about American oil and gas and it is a debate that we should have in the light of day with the American people watching.

 

Last year, on a bipartisan basis, my colleagues joined me in such a debate and as a result we opened a substantial area in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas leasing.  I said then and I say again --   we will not strengthen our energy security by locking up our nation’s energy resources.

 

In discussing energy independence, many people point to the role that ethanol has played in turning Brazil into a net exporter of oil in 2006.  While this is true, they often fail to mention that Brazil’s oil production has risen significantly in recent years.  And, the untold story is that most of Brazil’s crude oil production is offshore in the deepwater. Similarly, most of Mexico’s crude oil production occurs off the southeastern coast of the country in the Gulf of Mexico.  Finally, within 50 miles of American land, Cuba leases to Chinese national oil companies to explore in the deepwater.  As we wring our hands, other nations act.  And, as a result, our increased dependence weakens our economic and diplomatic strength in the world. 

 

The task of energy security calls us to be bold.  We must rethink long-standing policies like the OCS moratorium and stagnant CAFÉ standards.  And we must do more than that.  It will require us to do things that Democrats don’t like, and it will require us to do things that Republicans don’t like.  It requires us to think differently.  I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to have this discussion and I look forward to hearing from the witnesses.