NC Congressman Robin Hayes
Finally some common sense. Congressman Robin Hayes is submitting legislation to increase oil and gas exploration and refineries in the US.
A significant problem we are facing this year is that our nation’s ability to refine oil into gasoline has been hurt by a number of outages. Some estimates indicate that our refining capacity is eight times worse than last year. The fact is, we haven’t built a new refinery in this country since the 1970s; however, we have lost several during that time. I have supported legislation that would expand the number of domestic refineries and actually construct a refinery for specifically for our military, HR 3893. Acute problems with our refining ability combined with a rapidly growing global demand for oil is only going to continue (not to mention the fact that 60% of the oil we consume comes from foreign sources). To properly address this problem, we need to take action on three fronts: more conservation and efficiency – more domestic exploration and production of oil and natural gas – and the development of more alternative fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am excited to say that we are going to include a significant energy component in the Farm Bill to help us develop these new alternative fuels, fuels can be grown right here at home – lessening our dependence on the Middle East and creating a new market for our farmers.
