Arnold Walker said:
Neither are the dictators in South America.....but would you actually
trust these guys ,not to screw with your oil supply.
Or the real problem just might be Congress, not foreign controlled supply...
See editorial below from TAPPI's "Ahead of the Curve".
surfnturf
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Act Now or Pay Later
by by W. Henson Moore, AF&PA
History is being decided in Congress this month. It will be an interesting
opportunity to test the old adage that those who do not learn from history,
are destined to repeat it. Congress is debating our current energy
crisis-believe it or not, I'm not talking about gasoline prices that seem to
be dominating the media. I'm talking about the price of natural gas which
is higher than gasoline. Recent natural gas prices were equivalent to
paying $7.50 per gallon for gasoline. It's seriously hurting our industry.
Natural gas has nothing to do with gasoline; it is a clean, efficient, and
formerly inexpensive fuel. Millions use it to heat their homes, schools,
churches, and hospitals, and we all rely on it to keep America's factories
and power plants running. But the price of natural gas has climbed steeply
in the past six years, far outpacing inflation, and the price is now at
least four times its historic average. These unnaturally high prices are
hurting manufacturing which relies so heavily on natural gas. Since 2000,
the forest products industry has closed 282 mills and permanently lost
189,000 jobs-and high energy prices are often cited as a reason.
So what about Congress? Well, the problem is uniquely one that Congress can
completely solve on its own. The reason natural gas prices are so high is
that for more than twenty years Congress has been encouraging consumption of
natural gas, while at the same time, restricting access to supply. Doesn't
make sense, does it? Well, Congress may be about to fix it by removing some
of those restrictions. Senators Domenici (R-NM) and Bingaman (D-NM) have
introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to expand our exploration for
natural gas in a small section of the Gulf of Mexico that is believed to
enough natural gas to heat 5 million homes for 15 years. In the U.S. House,
Representatives Jindal (R-LA) and Peterson (R-PA) have offered their own
bills that propose different approaches to increase our natural gas supply.
Voting should occur before the end of May, and America badly needs the bills
to pass and for the President to sign them.
I mentioned learning from history-well that part does tie back to gasoline
prices. Decades ago this country made a general policy decision that even
though there was plenty of oil in Alaska and under the ocean off our shores
we were not going to go after it in great quantities. We decided to import
most of our oil from allies in the Middle East. Well, as you know, some of
those allies are now our outright enemies, and none of them feel
particularly good about us. And what has happened to us? As we come to
require more and more oil, we are increasingly at the mercy of those former
allies who can do with the price of oil what they please.
So once again, we find ourselves at a crossroads. We have enough natural
gas under our feet and waters to keep America going for a century or more.
Will Congress lift the restrictions on supply and allow American companies
to go get this American natural gas to heat American homes and keep American
factories running, preserving American jobs? Or will they once again say,
"no," and make us look overseas for natural gas? Many countries in the
Middle East and Russia have booming natural gas industries, and they would
all be more than happy to see us hand our future over to them, just as we
did so many years ago with oil.
Congress needs to act now on natural gas or we will all be paying the price
later. I encourage you to call your Senators and your Representative in
Congress and tell them to put American natural gas to work for America.
America's security and strength depend on it.
W. Henson Moore is a former Member of Congress from Louisiana and the former
Deputy Secretary for Energy. He currently is the President & CEO of the
American Forest & Paper Association. He wants you to know you can call the
U.S. House of Representatives at (202) 225-3121 and the U.S. Senate at (202)
224-3121.
