This marks the second straight year Americans are paying more at the pump during the holidays. The price in 2009 was around $2.60 per gallon and jumped to about $3 per gallon at Christmas last year.
These higher prices aren’t grabbing headlines as they once did, but that doesn’t mean Washington should ignore the issue.
As part of its North American Energy Inventory report, the Institute for Energy Research recently outlined steps that policymakers could take to reverse America’s decline in energy production.
Among the ideas:
- Removing barriers to drilling. Less than 6 percent of federal lands and 2 percent offshore are open to exploration, limiting the potential of Americans to produce energy here at home.
- Developing shale resources. America has the world’s largest supply of shale resources — the oil and gas found in rock formations underground.
- Stopping excessive regulation. The government has slowed down and even halted offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies 30 percent of domestic oil production.
Heritage’s Nick Loris recently commented: “Allowing access for exploration and creating an efficient regulatory process that allows energy projects to move forward in a timely manner will not only increase revenue through more royalties, leases, and rent; it will also create jobs and help lower energy prices in the process.”
Tags: Christmas, David Vitter, domestic oil production, energy prices, Gulf of Mexico, Institute for Energy Research, offshore drilling, oil and gas, regulation, oil, gas, natural gas, peak oil, peak energy, department of energy, EIA, Heritage Foundation, Rob Bluey To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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