Roscoe Bartlett: “We have about 1 trillion barrels of recoverable known reserves. The undiscovered reserves are going to be a relatively…”

“We have about 1 trillion barrels of recoverable known reserves. The undiscovered reserves are going to be a relatively small fraction of that. If we could pump those undiscovered reserves tomorrow, what would we do the day after tomorrow? And there will be a day after tomorrow. I have 10 kids, 16 grandkids and two great grandkids. We are leaving them a horrendous debt, although not with my votes. Wouldn't it be nice to leave them a little oil? I am not anxious to find and exploit these undiscovered reserves. I really would like to vote for this bill, because we desperately need an energy bill. The world, and particularly the United States, faces a real challenge on energy in the future. I cannot vote for this bill primarily because of the corn ethanol mandate. A recent article in The Economist noted that our use of corn for ethanol doubled the price of corn about 1 year ago. Farmers then moved lands that would have been in soybeans and wheat to corn. We have now further increased the cost of corn, and we have increased the cost of soybeans and wheat the world around. One of the members of the United Nations said that what we have done is a crime against humanity. And the effect we have had on gasoline use has been absolutely trifling.”