Energy Talking Points

• The democrats, in their 100 hour agenda targeted an initial six-bill package that would end a number of federal subsidies for energy companies at a time they are enjoying large profits and redirect that money toward investments in renewable energy.   These are subsides (tax credits) that all businesses get, now all businesses except energy companies.
• The basic cause of expensive gasoline is an unbalance between supply and demand.  American imports 60% of the crude oil and 10% of the gasoline we use each year and this continues to grow.
• Paul supports oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).  According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) ANWR possess enough oil to replace our imports from Saudi Arabia for the next 20 years.  New technology permits minimum environmental impact of any exploration.  It would affect only 2,000 acres of the refuge out of a total of 20 million acres in the refuge.
• Paul supports reform in our regulatory regime to allow for new refineries to be built in the US.  No new refineries have been built since 1976.  This increases the amount of gasoline we need to import.
• Paul has been working hard to free up refinery space in the country by reducing the number of boutique fuels we refine currently.  There is no need to have dozens of different kinds of fuels refined when 7-9 are all that are needed to satisfy current laws.
• Paul has voted in favor of legislation that contained multiple alternative energy programs, including expanding research on hydrogen fuel cells and a 7.5 billion gallon ethanol program.
  

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