Lynn A. Westmoreland: “Right now only 3 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf is leased for oil and natural gas, and only 6 percent of the…”

“Right now only 3 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf is leased for oil and natural gas, and only 6 percent of the Bureau of Land Management public lands are leased. So I think that it would be a good opportunity for the gentleman, for just my suggestion, that we look at that. I know that it has been looked at many times before. The gentleman mentioned about the Republicans being in control for 12 years, I was only here for 2 of those years, so I was quite disappointed too that we never passed a comprehensive energy plan. You know, I am very concerned about that, and I hate that. What I am proud of is that right now that we have come up with an energy plan that would help with our dependence on foreign oil, and maybe it took 12 years for us to wake up. I certainly hope that the majority party that's in control now, that it doesn't take them 12 years to wake up to understand that we need an energy policy. Now, if it's going to take them 12 years to wake up, we will be paying $12 a gallon like they are paying in the Netherlands or $9 a gallon like they are paying in Germany.”