Tapping Domestic Energy Resources, Existing Wells & Maximizing Alternative Energies

Urging Domestic Oil Producers to Ramp Up Production

Working to Eliminate U.S. Reliance on Oil From Bad Actors, Including Russia, Iran, Venezuela

Above: Gottheimer in Paramus today, announcing a new All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help get oil and gas prices down.

PARAMUS, NJ — Today, March 15, 2022, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced his All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help get oil and gas prices down in New Jersey and nationwide, and to make life more affordable for Jersey families. 

Gottheimer’s plan outlines how to help lower gas and home heating oil prices by 1.) tapping into existing domestic oil wells, 2.) domestic oil producers ramping up production as soon as possible, 3.) utilizing close allies to reduce U.S. reliance on oil from bad actors including Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, and 4.) increasing and maximizing our use of alternative energies, including wind and solar. Gottheimer helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill which is investing in EV charging networks, EV buses, ferries, and other modes of transportation.

The fight to defend Ukraine from the ongoing Russian invasion, and protect their democracy from Putin, has impacted global oil and gas prices.

Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called on American oil companies to ramp up production, saying, “We are on a war footing—an emergency—and we have to responsibly increase short-term supply where we can right now to stabilize the market and to minimize harm to American families.” 

In 2019, the U.S. was producing nearly 13 million barrels of oil a day. In 2021, domestic production had fallen to 11.2 million barrels a day. 

Gottheimer has initiated bipartisan discussions with some of the U.S.’s largest energy producers to push them to increase domestic production, and help get gas and oil prices down.

Gottheimer’s All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help lower gas & oil prices includes:

1. Domestic oil producers ramping up production and tapping our existing domestic energy resources: Domestic oil producers must ramp up production as soon as humanly possible, leveraging existing wells. We need to produce more barrels domestically and import more barrels from allied countries like Canada, Mexico, and Colombia in the short term.

2. Helping eliminate America’s reliance on oil from Russia, terrorist states, and other bad actors, including Iran and Venezuela — with the goal of becoming energy independent: By banning Russian oil imports to the U.S., we have the opportunity to stick it to Putin, work with our allies to stabilize the energy market across the world, safeguard our nation’s energy security, and boost America’s own energy independence.

3. Pursuing long-term climate goals, while tapping our existing domestic energy supplies in the near term: It’s a false choice to say that the U.S. has to sacrifice longer-term climate goals if we take an all-of-the-above energy approach domestically. We can do both, and get gas and oil prices down now. The key is to continue to move toward fully transitioning to alternative energy, including wind and solar power. The worst thing to do would be to cut off all of our domestic oil and gas production and suddenly have to rely even more on nefarious actors like Russia, Venezuela, and terrorist sympathizers like Iran.

“We must take advantage of all of the resources we have here in America with an all-of-the-above approach to energy. We cannot trade in the oil imports of a murdering dictator, for oil from the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism in Iran, or a cold-blooded killer like communist Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, who is aligned with Putin,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “We need to utilize our domestic production, use existing resources, and get more barrels domestically and from allied countries like Canada, Mexico, and Colombia in the short-term. This will help us in the long-run, as we continue our aggressive and necessary march toward energy independence.”

Gottheimer continued, “We have to stand up to Russia, but — beyond that — we have to get prices down and the best way is to take full advantage of all we have domestically. We can tap our traditional domestic energy resources now and continue our long-term, climate-driven goals with alternative energy like wind and solar.”

Last week, with his Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Gottheimer introduced bipartisan legislation in the House to ban the U.S. from importing Russian oil, petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. Senators Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski introduced the companion legislation in the Senate.

Thanks to their bipartisan, bicameral push in Congress, the Administration announced that they would ban Russian oil imports in the U.S. The House also passed bipartisan legislation to ban the import of Russian oil to the U.S., thanks to their push. 

Gottheimer was joined today outside a Paramus gas station by Bergen County Commissioners Tom Sullivan, Mary Amoroso, and Germaine Ortiz.

Video of the announcement can be found here.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery: 

I’m here today to announce my All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help get oil and gas prices down, and to make life more affordable for Jersey families. We can tap our traditional domestic energy resources now and continue our long-term, climate-driven goals with alternative energy like wind and solar.

Right now, the American people — including here in North Jersey — are facing rising gas prices at the pump and higher costs for home heating oil. As of today, the average price for a gallon of regular here in Jersey was $4.32, according to AAA. A large part of that increase, of course, is the critical fight to protect democracy in Ukraine and stop Putin in his tracks. That necessary fight has thrown global energy markets into turmoil.

From tough economic sanctions to freezing Russian gas imports to strong military support, I know that we stand united against a dictator with nuclear weapons – and in keeping our oil dollars out of Putin’s pockets. We can’t subsidize Putin’s war in Ukraine with American dollars. After all, we’ve all seen what he’s done to countless innocent Ukrainian families and children, how he’s blocked humanitarian aid, and violated multiple cease fires. No one I know – and I’ve heard from so many of you – wants anything but to hit Putin where it hurts.

Here’s the good news: I believe there’s a way to stand up for Ukraine and strongly against Putin, ensure the security of our country, and get oil and gas prices down. That’s the crux of my All-of-the-Above Energy Plan.

First and foremost, we must fully tap our energy resources that we have right here in America. This is essential to help stabilize global energy prices and lower gas and oil prices here at home.  And bold action is already being taken, including steps I’ve called for.

Here are the most important facts: In 2019, including in the last Administration, we were producing, domestically, nearly 13 million barrels a day. In 2021, our domestic production had fallen to 11.2 million a day. So, clearly, there’s room for growth. Greater supply will help drive gas prices down.  It’s time to get that domestic production back up – and we can get there without oil from Russia, or from other dictators in Iran or communists in Venezuela.

Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called on American oil companies to ramp up production. As the Secretary said, we are on a war footing and we have to responsibly increase short-term supply where we can right now, to stabilize the market and to minimize harm to American families. I agree with the Secretary and the Administration’s push to increase our domestic production – and help get gas and oil prices down.

I have initiated bipartisan discussions with some of the U.S.’s largest energy producers, as we need them to do more, and they can. They were hitting high levels of production in 2019 — and I’m hopeful that they can get back there in short order. 

Working together, I believe we can immediately address challenges they are facing and help them ramp up production as soon as humanly possible. There should be nothing stopping them. 

It’s time we got off our addiction to foreign oil, whether that’s from Russia or Iran. We can’t allow our energy needs to be weaponized by nefarious countries.

The Administration has taken key steps to get production up.  Earlier this month, the President announced, along with our allies, that he would utilize 60 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Wells are also coming back online. As of two weeks ago, the number of active drilling rigs increased for eighteen straight weeks.

Overall, the number of active rigs is up more than 60% since the Biden Administration came to office — which should help relieve global gas and oil prices.

And, on a monthly basis, this Administration has approved more oil and gas drilling permits on public lands than the last Administration did during its first three years. Onshore alone, as of the start of this year, the oil and gas industry had more than 9,000 unused approved permits to drill in the United States. We need to work with domestic producers to utilize existing leases and permits, so that oil and gas production can meet current demand.

There is already some good news from our recent action. We are already seeing that pledges to increase production from the U.S. and our allies is having an impact on the price of a barrel of oil. It’s dropped from $123 a barrel to $96 dollars in just the last seven days – and we should see the impact of that drop at the gas pump very soon. That is just the beginning and, of course, we need to do more to secure our domestic energy supply.

Second, by taking an all-of-the-above approach to our domestic energy needs, we can help eliminate America’s reliance on oil from Russia, terrorist states, and other bad actors — with the ultimate goal of becoming energy independent.

We have to stand up to Russia, but — beyond that — we have to get prices down and the best way is to take full advantage of all we have domestically.

Last week, with my Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, I introduced bipartisan legislation in the House to ban the U.S. from importing Russian oil, petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. Senators Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski introduced the companion legislation in the Senate.

After we introduced this legislation to ban the import of Russian oil, the Administration announced that they would ban Russian oil imports here at home. Thanks to our bipartisan, bicameral push in Congress, we were able to get the Administration to take action, and I applaud their move. The House also passed bipartisan legislation to ban the import of Russian oil to the U.S., thanks to our push.

This ban is a moral and strategic imperative for our great nation. We know that we are on a war footing. We’ve all seen the horrifying images out of Ukraine, and we must do everything we can to put a stop to Putin’s war.

By banning Russian oil imports to the U.S., we have the opportunity to stick it to Putin, work with our allies to stabilize the energy market across the world, safeguard our nation’s energy security, and boost America’s own energy independence.

Third, and finally, and, as an environmentalist, this is critically important: It’s a false choice to say that the U.S. has to sacrifice longer-term climate goals if we take an all-of-the-above energy approach domestically. We can do both – – and get gas and oil prices down now. The key is, at all times, to keep our eyes on the prize – fully transitioning to alternative energy. And I’m very proud of our state and our leadership on wind, solar, and other alternative energy resources.  It’s all part of my All-of-the-Above Energy Plan.

In the last year, nationally, we’ve already taken concrete legislative action to combat climate change.

The historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill invests in a national EV charging network and in clean buses, ferries, and other modes of transportation, and will further lessen our dependence on foreign oil. And I have continued to push for the clean energy incentives which passed the House at the end of last year. When the Senate takes action, we will finally move our nation toward the goal of cutting greenhouse gasses by 50 percent and delivering 80 percent clean electricity by 2030.

But alongside these longer-term investments, we must continue to tap our domestic energy supplies today. After all, it’s a transition. We can’t get there overnight. You don’t just flip a switch. The worst thing to do would be to cut off all of our domestic oil and gas production and suddenly have to rely even more on nefarious actors like Russia, Venezuela, and terrorist sympathizers like Iran.

And, to boot, data shows that oil and natural gas production done in America is cleaner than most other major energy producers. The International Energy Agency’s Methane Tracker finds that oil and gas produced in Russia is estimated to result in 30 percent higher methane emissions when compared to the U.S. They also estimate that the methane emissions intensity of Iranian oil and gas production is 85 percent higher than in the U.S.

We cannot trade in the oil imports of a murdering dictator, for oil from the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism in Iran, or a cold-blooded killer like communist Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, who is aligned with Putin. I don’t think the wise approach here is to turn to more nefarious actors. Going from Russia to Iran or Venezuela is not the answer. We need to utilize our domestic production, use existing resources, and get more barrels domestically and from allied countries like Canada, Mexico, and Colombia in the short-term. This will help us in the long-run, as we continue our aggressive and necessary march toward energy independence.

Our objectives are clear: We must ban Russian oil to help put a stop to this horrifying war. We must take advantage of all of the resources we have here in America with an all-of-the-above approach to energy.  We must continue our fight against climate change and invest in alternative energy like wind and solar.  We must move away from our reliance on dictators, communist, and terrorist sympathizers in countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela and protect our national security.  And more than anything, we must do everything we can to help lower gas and oil prices to bring relief at the pump and in homes for the American people — and make life more affordable for Jersey families.

We can do it all if we adopt the All-of-the-Above Energy Plan I outlined today, and there is nothing partisan about it.  By all of us working together here in the greatest country in the world, I know that our best days will always be ahead of us.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

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