OPINION:
As The Washington Times rightly points out (“Obama’s gas stunt comes up empty,” Comment & Analysis, Tuesday), the best solution to increasing America’s available energy supplies is to increase production, especially as part of a balanced, longer-term energy policy. Ironically, the president has the ability to do that at his fingertips.
Immediately granting permits to explore and produce in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in Alaska would ultimately fill the TransAlaska Pipeline and bring 1.37 million barrels per day to U.S. markets. Issuing the presidential permit necessary to build the Keystone XL pipeline project would bring 700,000 barrels per day from Alberta, the Dakotas, Montana, Kansas and Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries. Returning the Gulf of Mexico to production levels prior to the BP oil spill by issuing stalled permits would add 130,000 barrels per day.
The sum total of these three steps - all of which require merely a few pen strokes from the president - would increase supplies by 2.2 million barrels of oil per day, or more than twice the amount the administration released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. It would also foster long-term growth instead of a temporary stimulus. Unlike releasing oil from the SPR, moving forward with these three actions would create more than 114,000 high-paying American jobs.
MICHAEL WHATLEY
Executive Vice President
Consumer Energy Alliance
Houston
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