Political Quotes

“Hurricane Katrina may not only have been one of the most destructive natural disasters in our nation's history, the argument could be made that Katrina was the perfect storm in exposing our nation's vulnerabilities in supplying oil and gas to meet our energy needs. There is absolutely no doubt that our country must become energy independent. Today we rely on foreign sources of oil to supply 60 percent of our energy needs. We are at the mercy of the Oil Producing Export Countries. Disruption in our energy supply--whether through OPEC polices to reduce production, disruption in domestic drilling and shipping caused by hurricanes, or limited refining capacity--energy security is a matter of national security. I understand the serious impact that rising fuel prices have on the everyday lives of people and the strength of our economy. It is an issue which impacts everyone who drives or uses oil and every sector of our economy. We must find ways to improve conservation of oil resources, increase domestic production and oil refining capacity. Progress also needs to be made in developing alternative fuels as well as making the machines we use more energy efficient. The argument has been made that our nation's ability to refine both imported and domestic sources of oil is limited because no new oil refineries have opened in the United States in almost 30 years. Additionally, just under half our refinery capacity or 47 percent is concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico.…”