AMERICANS don’t like paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline or $5 for a gallon of diesel. Not one bit.
Nearly 1 million Americans have signed our “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” petition at AmericanSolutions.com.
The language is simple but powerful: “We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the US Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline (and other fuels derived from oil including diesel) prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.”
The choice for our elected leaders is simple: Either take action now to lower our fuel prices or the American people will take action in the November election.
The choice for the politicians is really that simple, as are the first four steps for developing more American energy now:
* End the congressional ban on exploring the oil-shale deposits in the Green River Formation area of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
A 2005 RAND study estimates that about 800 billion barrels of oil trapped in shale are technically recoverable from the Green River Formation. This amount is more than three times the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.
* End the congressional ban on oil and gas exploration offshore.
The US Minerals Management Service estimates that America’s outer continental shelf holds about 19 billion barrels of undiscovered recoverable oil and 85.7 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered recoverable natural gas. But Congress has outlawed development there – even though the Chinese are planning to explore for oil within 60 miles of the Florida coast.
* Provide tax incentives for automakers to retool to produce flex fuel cars, similar to Brazil – which will have 80 percent of new cars with flex-fuel engines by 2011.
A rapid move to a situation where substantially all new cars sold in the United States could take a mixture of oil- and alcohol-based fuels would put downward pressure on oil prices – as consumers benefit from the competition among oil, ethanol and methanol suppliers.
* Establish large ($1 billion-plus tax-free) prizes for key breakthroughs in a hydrogen engine, a car that gets more than 100 miles to the gallon, safe disposal of nuclear waste and designing a next-generation clean-coal system, etc.
Prizes can be a means to unleash tremendous creativity in solving key energy and environmental challenges.
Congress should also create larger and longer-term tax credits for wind, solar and biofuels so there’s a maximum diversification of energy sources as we make a long-term transition to cleaner forms of energy.
These four steps are just a start.
If we want less expensive gasoline, diesel and other fuels and to reduce our dependence on foreign dictators, then we have to demand that politicians cut through the red tape and put policies in place that will increase domestic production.
It isn’t possible to regulate, tax or sue our way to lower fuel prices. While alternative energies are desirable in the long term, Americans need relief now.
The fact is, there’s no reason why Americans can’t have safe, abundant and relatively inexpensive energy.
America still has the world’s largest supply of fossil fuels. We have more coal than any other country by a huge margin. We have abundant oil and gas reserves. We have the potential for nuclear, wind, solar and biofuels in tremendous quantities.
And, critically, America is still technologically the most advanced nation in the world, despite decades of bad policies and politics.
Gas prices will likely be the defining issue in the fall elections. The American people want real change. As evidenced by the more than 800,000 signatories to the “Drill Now. Drill Here. Pay Less.” petition in the last three weeks, they want a change in our energy policy.
For the members wishing to return to Congress after November, the choice is clear: Support “Drill Here. Drill Now.” – or make way for challengers that do.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is general chairman of American Solutions for Winning the Future and author of “Real Change.”