Message from Congressman Mike Ross

Dear Friends:

Fuel prices continue to skyrocket and working families cannot afford the high prices and instability they face each time they fill up. We must have an affordable, stable supply of energy. The high costs of gas and other forms of energy continue to hamper our nation’s economic recovery and they continue to make it harder for Arkansas's working families to make ends meet.

Our country spends just over $300 billion a year importing energy from other nations, particularly from the Middle East.  If anything, our present situation makes it clear that our dependence on foreign oil is a threat to our national security and our way of life.  We need to find ways we can utilize the energy sources we have right here at home.

We simply cannot ignore the reality that our way of life continues to depend on affordable oil, gasoline and diesel, but we also can’t ignore the reality that they are limited resources. Drilling more alone will not solve all of our problems nor will it meet our long-term energy needs.  We need to explore all forms of energy and invest in new technologies if we are to ever make this country truly energy independent.

That’s why I have introduced legislation to not only increase domestic drilling, but also to make historic investments in alternative and renewable sources of energy, without contributing to the nation’s deficit.  My bill, the American-Made Energy Act, would lower the price of fuel, help secure the nation’s energy supply, increase the use of alternative and renewable energy and create more ‘green collar’ jobs here at home.

Some say we need to drill more and others say we need to invest more in alternative energies, but my bill does both.  This bill focuses on American-made energy by expanding areas for domestic drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) and offshore in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).  My bill would then take the federal share of the lease and royalty revenues from this increased oil and natural gas production and deposit the funds in a specially created federal trust fund.  The trust fund, fully paid for by the lease and royalty revenues from the increased drilling, would support historic investments in alternative and renewable energy incentives and projects.

The trust fund will help us move promising alternative and renewable energy technology from the science lab to the marketplace, while not adding a single dime to the deficit.  In fact, my bill would make the single largest investment in the history of our country in alternative and renewable energies.

These investments will promote alternative energies such as lignite coal and compressed natural gas, of which Arkansas already stands to become a leading national producer.  In fact, research is already underway to turn lignite coal, which we have at least 9 billion tons of in south Arkansas, into a fuel that can replace gasoline with fewer emissions.  And compressed natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline.  Both of these resources are available right here in Arkansas, do not have to be imported from the Middle East and can fuel our vehicles for much less than what we currently pay at the pump.  This bill will help move these promising new technologies to the marketplace as we work to make renewable and alternative resources like biofuels, solar, wind, coal to liquid, and hydropower more effective and cost-efficient.

In addition to the American Made Energy Act, I helped introduce the North American-Made Energy Security Act, H.R. 1938, which expedited a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.  This Canada-to-Gulf pipeline will carry almost one million barrels of oil a day from our North American neighbor and ally in Canada, to refineries on the Gulf, creating jobs here at home and making our nation more energy independent.

However, as many of you know, the President recently rejected the permits to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline. As a result, I led a bi-partisan group of legislators in sending a letter to the President criticizing his decision and vowing to introduce legislation that will make the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline a reality because this project is in our nation’s best interest if we are to become more energy independent.

The only way we will lessen our dependence on foreign oil in the short term and help secure this nation’s energy future in the long term is through a multi-faceted approach. Both the American Made Energy Act and the Keystone XL pipeline are commonsense, straightforward actions our government can take to ensure we can stop shipping billions of dollars overseas to buy energy, use the money here at home to make smart investments in technology, create jobs and lower the price of fuel for all Americans.

 Sincerely,

Mike Ross