WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10), a member of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, today made the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement that he will open up drilling along the Atlantic coastline and portions of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s coastline to oil and natural gas drilling:
“I agree completely with President Obama when he today stated that energy security is an important part of improving our national security. I am very glad that he has realized that in order to improve our nation’s energy security we must open up domestic reserves to oil and gas exploration. By making our nation less reliant on foreign sources of energy we will not be forced to buy a large bulk of our energy from nations which are unfriendly to America. Instead, we will create much needed jobs here at home and will reduce our trade deficit.
“The most important benefit from opening up domestic resources will be to improve our economy. Expanded exploration for oil and gas resources here at home and building more nuclear power facilities will create hundreds of thousands of good paying American jobs. It will also help reduce the costs of energy for hard pressed American families and job providers and will allow our economy to grow.
“While I fully support the effort to advantage ourselves of our domestic energy resources, I am concerned about how we will move forward toward that goal. I think it would be a mistake to attempt to combine this effort with a push toward a Cap and Trade national energy tax which could stifle any gains made toward pushing prices down and expanding new jobs, particularly in a state like Michigan which is dependent upon coal for electricity and has such a large manufacturing job base. I am a strong supporter of the idea of using funds derived from selling oil and gas leases to help fund research and development of alternative energy like wind, solar, tidal and advanced battery technology that could truly be the energy future of America; However, additional taxes on existing forms of energy to accomplish that goal will drive up prices and force the continued outsourcing of jobs to other nations.
“I hope that we can move forward from this announcement today and work in a bi-partisan fashion toward a solution that will improve our economy, create jobs and strengthen our nation’s energy security and national security.”
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