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Gas Prices
Last year, the President signed into law the first significant piece of energy legislation in over a decade. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 takes steps to increase domestic production, improve energy conservation and efficiency, and develop alternative sources of energy. All of these activities must be part of a comprehensive plan to move the United States toward energy independence and more stable prices.
I am proud to have supported the first significant shift in energy policy passed by Congress in over a decade. This new law reflects our nation's commitment to increasing our energy independence through diversification. Each of these measures will reduce our dependence on, and therefore the price of, oil by diversifying and expanding our energy sources while also promoting increased efficiency. However, I believe this is only the first of many steps that must be taken to stabilize our energy markets.
The United States has significant reserves of oil that have been left untapped for too long, and I believe we must take steps to access those reserves. An important step toward that effort is to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to exploration and production. To that end, I have supported exploration and drilling in ANWR. I have also worked with my colleagues from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, to introduce S. 2384, �the Gulf Coast Protection and Restoration Act of 2006." S. 2384 proposes to open the majority of the Lease 181 Area off the Gulf Coast to exploration and production of oil and gas.
In his State of the Union Address on January 31, 2006, President Bush took the next step by proposing the Advanced Energy Initiative, which seeks to replace more than 75% of America's imports of oil by 2025. One of the primary means by which the President believes we can reduce foreign oil dependence is through funding research in clean coal, solar, and wind energy generation. The President believes acceleration of these technologies will reduce overall demand for oil and natural gas and lead to lower energy costs.
Many Alabamians have contacted me with concerns that oil companies are taking advantage of consumers. On November 8, 2005, the Senate held a joint hearing of the Energy and Commerce Committees to examine the various causes of elevated fuel prices. In response to recent allegations of consumer price gouging on behalf of the oil industry, the Senate Committees called upon five major oil companies to comment on their record level profits and revenues. While the question of oil price profiteering still remains, hearing co-chair, Senator Pete Domenici, asserted that there was no evidence yet that the oil companies have been unfair to consumers. These two Senate committees convened again on March 14, 2006 to further explore this issue. Representatives from the oil industry blamed recent �merger mania� for increased gas prices, citing that temporarily decreased competition has yielded higher prices for consumers. Industry representatives defended the recent mergers, however, arguing that larger companies would give the U.S. more powerful representation in the global oil trade.
I believe allegations of price gouging are very serious, and you may rest assured that I will give this matter my utmost attention as new information becomes available.
Congressional Research Service Issues Briefs
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.
The following files are in PDF format. In order to view these files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. You can download the free Reader from the following website: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
For more information on this issue, please view the following CRS report:
Gasoline Prices: Policies and Proposals.
More information on Senator Shelby's activities regarding energy and natural resources:
Chemical Weapons Disposal at Anniston
Department of Homeland Security
Disability and Military Retirement Benefits