News & Information » Friday Fact Checks

News Media Contact:
Nicole Daigle / Brendan Bradley
202.857.4722 / 800.433.2851

For Immediate Release
March 26, 2010

WASHINGTON - From New Jersey to California, and from North Carolina to Utah, and just about everywhere in between, struggling middle-class families, small businesses and seniors are feeling the pain of higher prices at the pump. The Washington Times reports this yesterday under the headline "Gas up $1 a gallon on Obama's watch":

• Gas prices have risen $1 since just after President Obama took office in January 2009 and are now closing in on the $3 mark, prompting an evaluation of the administration's energy record and calls for the White House to open more U.S. land for oil exploration.

And a new Rasmussen survey paints a clear and troubling picture of what everyday Americans believe is in store for energy prices in the coming months. In a report entitled "88% Expect To Pay More for Gas in Six Months", Rasmussen reports this today:

• Gas prices have increased 85 cents over the past year to nearly $3 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and an overwhelming majority of Americans believe they will continue to rise. But that doesn't mean most adults are driving any less.

A new Rasmussen Reports nationwide telephone survey finds that 88% of adults say it's at least somewhat likely they will be paying more for a gallon of gas in six months than they are today. ... Belief that gas prices will be higher six months from now is uniformly high across all demographic groups.

So why do Americans overwhelmingly believe that gas prices will increase over the next several months? Well, for one, their elected leaders in Washington haven't given them any reason to believe that access to domestic supplies of job-creating oil and gas production will increase any time soon, despite the fact that nearly 70 percent of Americans favor expanding energy production offshore. This, of course, would help stabilize energy costs, create thousands of good-paying jobs at a time when they're most needed and strengthen America's energy security.

Unfortunately, though, this Administration continues to pursue failed, status quo energy policies that lead to painful spikes in energy costs and a deeper reliance on unstable regions of the world to keep our economy fueled. And at the same time leaders in Washington continue to slow-walk responsible, 21^st century offshore energy exploration, the Administration is working to increase taxes on America's small and independent oil and gas producers, who drill 90 percent of the wells nationwide and on average employ only 12 workers.

In an editorial this week, the Houston Chronicle says these punitive, job-killing tax hikes are "troubling," and that "it makes no sense." This from the editorial: 

• In its proposed 2011 budget the Obama administration is levying what could be a $40 billion tax increase on the oil and gas sector, according to industry advocates. This is troubling, given the widely acknowledged and demonstrable role that the oil and gas industry is playing in moving the country toward energy stability and, perhaps someday, even energy independence.

What possible sense does it make to increase the tax load on an industry that is having a huge positive impact on both the national energy and jobs picture? None that we can see. The proposed taxes are punitive. They single out oil and gas in a way that figures to discourage future drilling and exploration that may well bring dividends like Moffett's Davy Jones find and the shale formation gas bonanzas that have completely changed the energy picture domestically.

It makes no sense.

Bruce Vincent, president of the Houston-based Swift Energy Company and chairman of IPAA, told the Houston Chronicle that independent producers are "bracing for" the $40 billion in new taxes proposed by the Obama Administration. Vincent's full response here: 

• We're bracing for all of it. And it does kind of take you aback. In a time like this, when we have record deficits, we've got an economy on its heels, we've got the highest unemployment we've seen in a long time and the oil and gas industry is one of the few industries that can actually create jobs. They can create permanent jobs, they can create high-paying jobs and have done so. It's astonishing that we would try to come forward to that industry and increase its taxes, take cash flow away from it, reduce investment in oil and gas resources in America and, more importantly, costing jobs across America because of that reduction in capital investment.

Vincent, who addressed the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association's annual meeting this week, penned a column in the Lake Charles (La.) American Press. Under the headline "State remains America's oil, gas engine," Vincent writes this: 

• We have the energy reserves on-hand and at the ready to fuel, power and light our economy for generations. In fact, we have enough domestic natural gas supplies to meet our nation's needs for greater than 100 years. Our offshore oil and gas reserves are significant, too. Responsibly producing these resources will help stabilize prices for American families as we continue to develop alternative and renewable energy forms, and invest in commonsense conservation initiatives.

Producing oil and gas here at home will also help break our deep dependence on foreign nations to meet our nation's energy needs. And it will continue to create thousands of jobs. Louisiana has demonstrated this for years. Now it's time for the rest of the country to start taking notice.