Rep. Mary Bono Mack: The U.S. needs more energy production to save economy

Written by
Rep. Mary Bono Mack
Special to The Desert Sun

With the average price of gasoline in California nearing $4 a gallon, I have sent a letter to President Obama, along with many of my colleagues, urging the administration in the strongest terms possible to begin expanding domestic energy production immediately or run the risk of sending the already fragile U.S. economy into a dangerous tail spin. It’s time for the president to show some leadership.

Today, oil prices are above $100 a barrel for the first time since October 2008, due in large part to the growing unrest in the Middle East. According to analysts, for every penny that the price of gasoline increases, it costs American families an additional $1.4 billion over an entire year. Clearly, even the smallest increase in gasoline prices has a significant impact on our struggling economy. So imagine what happens when gasoline jumps by more than 70 cents a gallon, as it has compared to just a year ago.

What’s the answer? We can help insulate ourselves from energy spikes — and keep our economy from suffering — by producing more energy at home. It’s time for an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy that includes more American-produced oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear, along with alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal.

Here are some sensible things we should do immediately if we’re really serious about becoming more energy independent as a nation:

Increase production in the Gulf of Mexico. The Interior Department is “slow rolling” permits. Since the Deepwater Horizon explosion last April, Interior has issued only a handful of shallow-water permits and just one deepwater permit. This bureaucratic bungling is hurting our economy in a big way. According to the administration’s own estimates, the moratorium has cost 12,000 jobs and rigs are actively leaving the gulf for foreign countries like Cuba, Brazil and Mexico. What’s more, according to the independent U.S. Energy Information Administration, production in the gulf has declined by 300,000 barrels a day since April.

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