Letter on Interior Appropriations Supporting OCS Amendment

June 17, 2008

The Honorable David R. Obey
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Jerry Lewis
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, strongly supports the amendment by Rep. John Peterson to the FY09 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that lifts the moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration on the outer continental shelf (OCS).

As you know, energy prices are skyrocketing and Americans are feeling an increasing amount of pain from fuel costs at home, at the office and at the pump. However, demand will not wane anytime soon. The OCS, meanwhile, is estimated to contain 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 85 billion barrels of oil. To put this in perspective, if all U.S. imports of oil and natural gas were to cease, the natural gas located on the OCS off the lower 48 states alone would satisfy all domestic industrial and commercial needs for almost 30 years. This amount of oil would provide a 35-year supply of gasoline for 81 million cars and heating oil for the millions of residential homes in the U.S. for over 100 years.

The Chamber appreciates that Congress has made energy a priority. While there may not be a "silver bullet," a large part of the solution is right under our noses in the OCS. The Chamber urges you to support Rep. Peterson's amendment to open up sections of the OCS for natural gas and oil exploration during consideration of the FY09 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten

Cc: Members of the Committee on Appropriations