GOP Weekly Address 3/3/2012

From the GOP; “In this week’s address, Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee Doc Hastings (R-WA) discusses how the president is unwilling to work toward energy independence in our nation. Gas prices are on the rise again, and our current administration has given no impression that they’re serious about lowering our energy costs and creating much-needed jobs. House Republicans are working to open domestic energy production and ease the burden on small businesses so they can grow and hire again.” Hastings explains high gas prices saying, “Americans are right to worry that no relief is in sight. The president, who campaigned on a promise to address rising gas prices, now talks as if they’re largely beyond his control. This week, when the president’s Energy Secretary was asked whether the administration’s goal is to lower gas prices, the secretary’s answer was ‘no.’ Incredibly, one Democrat leader in the Senate actually suggested we push Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, thereby increasing our dependence on the Middle East.” He sums up Obama by saying, “though the president now claims to support ‘all-of-the-above,’ he has consistently blocked American energy production, most recently by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition to that, he has restricted drilling in offshore areas while encouraging other countries, including Brazil, to expand their own exploration. And while the president says oil production alone can’t solve our problems, his administration has proposed costly regulations that would hurt the supply of other domestic sources. Instead of placing his bet on American-made energy and the workers who produce it, President Obama has wasted taxpayer dollars on Solyndra and other unproven technologies.”