With the price of gas at the pump hovering close to $4 a gallon, Colorado Representative Cory Gardner (CO-4) is working on energy policies to lessen the blow to consumers.
To break down the price of gas, almost 67% is derived from the price of oil. In Colorado, about 17 percent goes for federal and state taxes. The remainder pays for refining and distribution. A big factor in all those costs is government policies, and supply/demand. An article on Life Inc., breaks taxes down into dollars and cents, with a graph showing Colorado paying 40.4 cents per gallon (far more than the 17% stated by Cory Gardner).
With the Obama administration saying they want to cut our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs at home, their actions are not mirroring their words.
In the last two proposed budgets, the administration proposed over $80 billion in tax increases on the U.S. oil and gas industry. How does that lessen our dependence on foreign oil if American companies have to pay more than foreign companies for what they are producing and distributing? If American companies have to pay more to distribute the same product, doesn’t that threaten American jobs and increase energy costs to the consumers?
Cory Gardner has floated the draft of a bill that would “eliminate needless permitting delays that have stalled important energy producing opportunities off the coast of Alaska. This legislation will create tens of thousands of jobs, increase our energy security and lessen our dependence on foreign oil. By streamlining the permitting process, more than 1 million barrels of oil a day can be pumped from Alaska to the rest of the country, decreasing our oil imports by 10 percent.” (source: Congressman Gardner’s Weekly Newsletter). The bill will be formally introduced in the coming weeks.
As a man who believes in an “all of the above” energy program, Gardner hasalso signed onto the Natural Gas Act that promotes the use of clean burning natural gas by our nation's transportation sector.
Congress has reconvened in Washington D.C. after a two week recess and Gardner’s short term goal is to address the rapidly increasing price of gas. The price isn’t going up because of crooked gas station owners, it’s increasing because American companies can’t compete. Over 7 deep water oil rigs have permanently left the Gulf of Mexico because they had to sit idle after the Horizon oil rig disaster. Obama announced support of Brazilian oil drilling to the tune of $2B, money that could have gone into our own energy independence.
Contact Congressman Cory Gardner and let him know if he’s on the right track. You can schedule a meeting, send him an e-mail, or invite him to speak directly from his website. Remember, he represents you, the voter, in Colorado Congressional District 4.
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