Senate Candidate Jim Gilmore Releases Energy for America Plan

ANWR Development · Increasing domestic oil production from the vast reserves of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a solid first step towards making American energy independent; the Department of the Interior estimates ANWR has between 10 to 18 billion barrels of oil.

· ANWR is unique among potential energy solutions in that the cost for its development would be met by private industry.

· The development of ANWR would foster immediate job growth around the country; estimates show that in Virginia alone between 3000 and almost 7000 jobs would be created.

Offshore Drilling · We need to increase exploration and drilling for gas and oil off our coasts; we currently only do so in 15 percent of our nation’s offshore areas.

· Recent studies by the Department of the Interior estimate that about 20 billion barrels of untapped oil exist in federally restricted offshore areas, Virginia being one of them.

· It is estimated that the Commonwealth’s profits could be over $10 billion of the drilling moratorium were lifted.

Streamlining Regulation · We need to build more oil refineries in the U.S.; there have not been any new refineries built since the 1970s.

· The current process is so bureaucratic and so expensive that 25% of the cost involved goes to the licensing and approval process.

· We need to streamline the regulatory process and eliminate redundant and counterproductive regulations.

· A lack of refinery capacity is significantly impacting the price of gas in our nation, and that situation gets worse every time there is a hurricane or a breakdown at the current refinery facilities like we saw after Hurricane Katrina.

Nuclear Power Plants · We need to pursue the added benefit of nuclear power, which offers a cleaner power source for our environment.

· Burdensome and overreaching regulatory requirements also have stopped production of nuclear power plants in America.

· By increasing the use of nuclear power, we can free up the use of oil for use in our automobiles.

· Because coal already supplies more than half the electricity used in the U.S. and because it is relatively inexpensive, plentiful and mined right here in America, we will rely on it as one of our primary energy sources well into the future.

· We heat our homes, power our computers, charge our cell phones, operate our kitchen appliances and a myriad of other consumer products with electricity, therefore the need for abundant, inexpensive electricity has become an essential aspect of life in the United States.

· With improving technology, coal-fueled energy is also able to provide environmentally sound energy as well.

· Since the 1970s coal use in North America has almost tripled, yet at the same time, our overall air quality as dramatically improved.

· Yet, for more than three decades in America, the liberals in and out of government have continuously opposed the use of our coal resources. They would rather have us on expensive and inconvenient energy diets that stifle the economy, not to mention make life difficult for the average consumer.

This is a good solid plan. Jim has been out there hitting the drilling note more than any other candidate. He needs help to fight Mark Warner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbZgUS10bPY

He served in the military, cut taxes, reduced the rate of growth of state government, defended the unborn
and most importantly kept his promises.

http://www.jimgilmoreforsenate.com

The best government energy "plan" we can get is for the government to get the heck out of the way and let people resolve the problem.

We over-regulated ourselves into this situation - we can't regulate ourselves out of it.

I like Jim Gilmore. He and I chuckled over being distantly related when he came through stumping for W in ‘04.

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