Offshore or Import. Two Questions.
July 20, 2011
In 2010, we spent $72 billion more for imported oil than we did in 2009. Two questions:
- Why do we continue to send more money to countries who do not necessarily share our common interests when we have so much right here domestically?
- Why don’t we keep more of that money here, create thousands of new, well-paying American jobs and take greater control over our nation’s energy security by developing our own natural resources?
The answers are in our own backyard.
Our land off our shores have an abundance of oil and natural gas. These resources could fuel our cars and heat our homes for years and add millions in federal, state and local revenues. They can also bring our nation steps closer to energy security. But the Obama Administration’s moratorium on offshore drilling removes our ability to go after those resources.
To be clear, the oil and natural gas industry is not against other forms of energy. Quite the contrary, the industry is a strong supporter of a balanced energy solution and one of the nation’s largest investors in the development of renewable sources. But America must not ignore the dominant role fossil fuels will play for decades to come.
But we must start developing our offsore resources now because it takes years to go through the myriad of processes to develop these resources. And every year we wait means we continue to send money and jobs to those countries who may not share our best interests.
So now let’s ask ourselves two final questions:
- Do we use our own energy resources which will create jobs, increase tax revenues and stimulate the economy, or do we continue shipping more money to other countries while complaining about our unemployment and budget deficits?
- How important is the economic and energy security we keep talking about OR Whose economy do we want to fix, theirs or ours?
We think you know the right answers.
The New Hampshire Energy Forum
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