(Manchester, NH) -- As John Sununu voted this afternoon to open both the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Atlantic coastal waters up to drilling, former Governor Jeanne Shaheen reiterated her commitment to both an energy policy that ends our dependence on foreign oil and immediate steps to bring gas prices down for New Hampshire families.
This afternoon, Sununu voted to expand the Bush-Cheney energy policy that lines the pockets of Big Oil while New Hampshire families pay record prices at the pump. Sununu voted yes on opening ANWR up to drilling and to lifting a moratorium on drilling off of US coasts. [http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00123]
"Drilling in ANWR and in the waters off our coasts will damage some of our nation's most delicate natural environments, while the volume of oil it will produce will amount to a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of oil that we import into this country every day," Shaheen said. "More drilling is the answer the oil companies are looking for, not the answer New Hampshire families are looking for."
"Instead of more drilling, we should stop giving the oil companies $13 billion dollars in tax breaks and invest that money in the development of renewable energy sources like solar, wind and wood by-products," Shaheen added. "We should also take immediate steps to protect the market from price manipulation by oil companies and Wall Street traders, and we should demand that oil refineries increase their production capacity. It's time to put middle class families, not the oil companies, first."
In 2007, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in 2030, when any oil discovered in the Arctic Refuge would be near peak production levels, the effect at the gas pump would only be about two pennies per gallon. [EIA, "Petroleum Supply and Disposition, ANWR Drilling Case," Annual Energy Outlook 2007, February 2007]
Over the past months, Shaheen has been traveling across New Hampshire on her Middle Class Matters tour, talking to voters about the high cost of gasoline, her plans to address skyrocketing prices and her commitment to a new energy policy that ends our country's dependence on foreign oil.
Shaheen supports immediate measures to bring gas prices down for New Hampshire families without damaging American wilderness and padding the profits of the oil companies:
*Stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and release 30 million barrels of oil. Shaheen believes we should stop filling the SPR and help bring down prices by releasing 30 million barrels of oil from the Reserve.
*Close the Enron loophole. Currently, Wall Street traders are allowed to gamble on the price of oil on an electronic market, artificially driving it up in an attempt to make huge profits. Shaheen believes we need to put an end to this practice and let the forces of supply and demand, not Wall Street traders, determine oil and gas prices.
*Demand that refiners increase their production of oil. Refineries, most of which are controlled by the big oil companies, have been utilizing less than 85% of their capacity for most of this year. Shaheen believes we should create an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force to investigate allegations of oil and gas market manipulation and fraud, similar to the Corporate Fraud Task Force established in 2002 in the wake of the Enron scandals. [U.S. Department of Energy]
*Pressure OPEC to increase production. Right now, under U.S. anti-trust laws, OPEC countries cannot be held accountable, even when they are engaged in coordinated activity to manipulate the global oil market. Shaheen believes we should amend the law so that the Justice Department can bring suits in US courts against OPEC for price fixing.
Shaheen supports a long-term energy policy that will create cleaner forms of energy and end our dependence on foreign oil:
*End tax breaks for Big Oil and create tax incentives for the development of clean, renewable sources of energy like wind, solar and wood by-products.
*Increase tax incentives for wood-based ethanol. Shaheen supports investing money in exploring methods being developed right here in New Hampshire to use forest byproducts to create cellulosic wood-based ethanol. Wood-based ethanol won't have an impact on the global food supply and, given New Hampshire's abundant forest resources, expanded use of cellulosic ethanol will create jobs right here in New Hampshire.
