CAES News
Vote YES on S. 3711 -- Why? Make America More Competitive in the Global Marketplace
A vote for S. 3711 — The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 — is a vote to make America more competitive globally. In today’s incredibly complex and more global marketplace, record high energy prices have put America’s economy at a competitive crossroads.
Currently, American consumers and industrial energy users, pay the highest natural gas prices in the world. In 2005, here is a comparison for the U.S. and our most intense economic competitors (MMBTUs):
• United States: $8.85
• Japan: $6.05
• China: $5.05
• India: $3.10
U.S. businesses — large and small — must increasingly compete with businesses all over the world. With energy costs comprising a larger share of U.S. businesses’ fixed costs, it becomes more and more difficult to compete — higher energy costs tip the playing field against U.S. businesses. For example:
• Costs paid by the chemical industry for energy inputs — fuel, power and feedstock such as natural gas — have more than doubled, from $25 billion to $52 billion since 1999.
• When considering sites for a new facility, high U.S. energy prices forced The Dow Chemical Company to locate the plant in Oman, rather than Texas.
• As consumers of approximately 33% of the U.S. natural gas supply, these large and small manufacturers need a more affordable supply to stay competitive globally.
• In just two short years, the natural gas bill for the U.S. chemical industry has increased more than $10 billion, putting further cost pressures on the industry as it struggles to compete with lower cost, foreign competitors.
| By voting YES on S. 3711, the U.S. Senate can reverse a more than 25-year ‘Just Say No’ energy policy. We can safely access the abundant supplies of American energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Some estimate that the OCS has enough oil to meet demand for 20 years and enough gas to heat our homes for 20 years. Congress holds the key to ending the current energy crisis in the U.S. VOTE YES ON S. 3711 – AMERICA IS COUNTING ON YOUR VOTE. |