Our country’s energy policies and infrastructure need an update.
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation to bring part of our energy policy into the present by repealing the crude oil export ban.
The current ban on crude oil exports is outdated and is holding our nation back. Lifting the ban on the export of crude oil is about maintaining our standing as a global leader, incentivizing innovation and bringing jobs back to our communities right here in Oklahoma.
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton’s (TX-06) H.R. 702, legislation which I have championed, would lift the ban allowing us to compete with other oil exporting nations, including those that do not always have our best interests at heart, or that of our allies.
U.S. energy policy must evolve from where it was in the 1970s. Forty years ago, Congress enacted the ban in response to an Arab oil embargo. The world is a different place, and while we are the number one producer of petroleum liquids, we are falling behind with this restriction from exporting crude oil.
Additionally, in the Energy and Commerce Committee, we have been working to modernize our nation’s energy policy and infrastructure, as well as enhance energy security. The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015 (H.R. 8) is the first effort for significant energy reforms since 2007. On Sept. 30, 2015, the committee referred the legislation to the House for consideration.
In mid-October, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Power, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-01), will join me in Oklahoma where we will sit down with leaders from Oklahoma’s energy and power sectors to discuss the impact of federal regulations and help develop policy proposals that maximize production and support the energy workforce in Oklahoma and our nation.
I am focused on supporting job creation through innovation and opportunity, as well as an energy infrastructure that will ensure affordable energy to Oklahoma families whose paychecks are already stretched thin.
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