Mike Rogers: Environment can lend hand to economy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another week, another record. Gas is now averaging more than $4 a gallon across the country.

With each passing day it seems the price of gas gets higher and higher. In turn, this drives up the price of most everything else, especially food.

Because of these high gas prices, folks have to make choices. Tough choices like how we spend our time, how much we drive and what bills to pay.

With gas and energy prices at the top of folks’ concerns here in East Alabama, Congress needs to act. Although most of us know there is no silver bullet that can make gas prices drop overnight, there are many things Congress can do immediately to help in the long run.

First and foremost, our country must reduce our dependence of foreign oil. The first step for making that happen is to drill for the oil we have here at home.

For example, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the 1.5 million acre coastal plain on the North Slope of Alaska, has potential oil reserves of 10.5 billion barrels.

I have repeatedly voted to open up ANWR for energy exploration. But this bill has always been blocked from being signed into law by the environmental lobby in the Senate. With gas prices rising daily, this is just unacceptable. We are all environmentalists and all want clear air, land and water. With the strong environmental laws already on the books, there is no doubt we can explore for energy in Alaska with minimum impact on the natural beauty of the land or disruption of the animals that roam there.

According to the Department of the Interior the land used would be limited to a tiny 1 percent of ANWR’s total acreage.

Another area we should look to is on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. This area has upwards of 86 billion barrels of untapped oil reserves, which if tapped could satisfy our petroleum needs for 12 years.

In December 2006 Congress passed, with my support, a bill that partially expanded drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. But there is still a large area that is off limits to U.S. companies.

Since then, you may have seen China has signed an agreement with Cuba to drill for this oil. That’s right: China has set up shop off the coast of Florida and is using oil our country could readily use instead.

Why? Because Congress refuses to allow our nation to use it.

Of course, drilling for oil here at home is just part of the solution for helping us become more energy independent. We must also invest heavily in the development of alternative fuels.

Cellulosic ethanol, in particular, is a type of fuel made from switch grass or wood chips grown right here in East Alabama. It does not involve using food stocks like corn.

Another part of the solution is to build the next generation nuclear power plants and oil refineries. We can drill for all the domestic oil we want, but if the U.S. can’t refine it all gas prices won’t go down. The last nuclear plants were built in the 1970s and we have not had a new refinery built in more than 30 years.

The situation will continue to worsen as countries like China and India consume more and more of the world’s oil. Congress must act now to help our nation become more energy independent. As always please contact me on this or any issue at www.house.gov/mike-rogers.

Mike Rogers is a U.S. Congressman representing Alabama’s Third District.