Ron Kind: “what is also not stated in this debate on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is even if the authority is given and they…”

“what is also not stated in this debate on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is even if the authority is given and they start drilling, it is a 10-year period before they bring the product to market, so obviously that is not going to be any short-term answer to the crisis we now have on the West Coast or in other parts of this country in regard to rising prices. Unquestionably, we need to modernize the infrastructure. We need to invest in more refineries. In fact, many of the industry experts in the economy say this is not really a supply problem we are facing. This is not the 1970s, when OPEC decided to turn off the spigots and hold us hostage by reducing oil production or selling oil in the country. We had the lines backing up at the service stations with escalating gas prices in the 1970s. That is not the situation we face now. OPEC has, as a group, been able to keep their per barrel price of oil within the reasonable range of $25 to $30 a barrel, which they said was their target range. They have been staying true to that. It is really an infrastructure challenge we face right now, and refinery capacity. I believe Members on both sides of the aisle recognize that.”