WRNJ: Gottheimer announces All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help lower gas, oil prices

Read more here: WRNJ: Gottheimer announces All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to help lower gas, oil prices

PARAMUS, NJ (Bergen County) — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Tuesday 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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,” Gottheimer said. “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.”

“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,” Gottheimer said.

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 said.

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