In a few days Luke will be heading off to Alaska with several other congressional candidates to tour the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in order to draw attention to the fact that we need to drill for domestic oil. With gas prices at a record high, and with a significant amount of our oil coming from foreign countries that are sometimes hostile to our interests, Luke believes the time has come for us to declare our energy independence and begin drilling for American oil.
When he’s out talking to people about the need to drill in ANWR, the Gulf Coast and elsewhere, one frequent question that comes up is how much land it will take for drilling operations in ANWR. The answer is that only 2,000 acres out of ANWR’s 19,000,000 acres will be used for drilling and support operations. For a comparison, the state of Indiana is roughly 23,000,000 acres.
The 2,000 acres that we need to access for drilling operations are located on the Refuge’s northernmost section known as the Coastal Plain. This area is not the lush and beautiful part of the Refuge that tourists are often familiar with. Instead of green mountains, blue rivers, and pastures teaming with animal life, the Plain is home to bugs and hardy grass plants and vast spaces of nothingness.
To get an idea of what drilling in ANWR would be like, check out the below chart.
Lately the Puckett for Congress team has been promoting the American Solutions’ “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less” campaign that is focusing on putting grassroots pressure on Congress to open up access to American oil resources and expand domestic refinery capacity. (Click here to learn more about Luke’s approach to domestic drilling.)
Congress has dallied about energy independence for years. Even as late as last year the new Democratic majority was staunchly opposed to allowing energy companies to drill for American oil in environmentally friendly ways. Although other countries that posses large oil resources are drilling for their own oil (think of Saudi Arabia, Canada, Venezuela, and on the list goes) the United States is not tapping into its own massive oil resources even as the price of oil and refined fuels climbs higher and higher and as citizens feel more and more pain in their wallet at the pump.
Fortunately, our work here in the 2nd Congressional District has had something of an impact on our sitting congressman. He recently came out in favor of drilling for oil in ANWR. But isn’t it frustrating that it he didn’t have the foresight and the vision to lead on this issue last year when he cast at least 4 votes to block our access to our own oil resources? High gas prices didn’t start this year, they’ve been going up for several years now and any leader would have recognized the need to drill for American oil.
Hoosiers are rightfully frustrated as they pay $4 or more for a gallon of gas. Every time they fill up they are painfully reminded of our nation’s excessive dependence on foreign oil. For decades now we’ve heard a lot of talk about energy independence. In 1970 we imported 12% of our annual oil consumption. Last year we imported 66% of oil that we use to fuel our cars, our homes, and our transportation industry.
The rising price of gas should come as no surprise to our leaders. Since 2003 the price of oil has climbed higher and higher and recently it hit a record of $138 a barrel. You can be sure that right now there are some very happy oil producers in the Middle East.
Fuel and oil prices have risen in part because current oil production levels cannot keep pace with a growing global demand. Countries such as India and China are going through a growth spurt that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
So does all of this mean Americans have to get used to paying higher fuel prices? No! The good news is that we can begin to lower the price at the pump by doing several things. First, we need to rid ourselves of excessive government regulations that hold us hostage to foreign oil. Government regulations stand between us and lower gas prices and energy independence.
From the arctic tundra of ANWR to the cold dark depths of the Gulf Coast seabed and the outer continental shelf, billions upon billions of barrels of oil wait to be tapped into. Why is that we aren’t working to extract the roughly 1.2 trillion barrels of oil in the shale of Colorado and Utah? Why is that the Chinese can drill in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to their Cuban friends but the United States can’t drill in that same Gulf?
The answer is energy companies are prohibited by federal law from tapping into some of our most promising oil fields. Washington has told these companies that they cannot use environmentally friendly drilling technology to bring this oil to the surface and onto the American market. Just last year Rep. Joe Donnelly voted at least 4 times to prevent us from drilling for domestic oil.
In addition to increasing domestic oil production we need to allow for the construction of new oil refineries. It’s been over 30 years since a new refinery was built in our country and if we merely allow for more domestic oil drilling without allowing for new refineries to be built, a bottleneck will be created and Americans will still be paying high gas prices. Congress and the federal government must act to allow more refineries to be built and existing refineries to be expanded. We don’t need the kind of politics that led Rep. Joe Donnelly to vote last July to condemn the expansion of a Midwest oil refinery.
The second thing that we must do to bring down high gas prices is focus on long term alternatives to oil. While our nation has immense oil reserves, we must keep the future in mind and begin working today to provide long term energy solutions. In Germany they have successfully used a process that takes coal and turns it into liquid fuel that can be used by vehicles. We must make sure that American companies are free to forge ahead in the area of coal-to-liquid technology.
Renewable energy sources such as ethanol and fuels made from organic matter must also be a part of our nation’s long-term energy plan. While these fuels still need to be perfected before they are ready to replace our current petroleum fuels, now is the time for the research and development to take place.
If I am elected to be the next Congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, I will make energy independence one of my top priorities. It is time for us to be free to drill for our own oil, lower our gas prices, and begin research and development projects that will give us a future fueled by renewable energy resources.
Luke Puckett is the Republican candidate for Congress in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.
Last Tuesday was a tremendous day for the campaign as Luke won the primaryelection to be the Republican nominee to become the next congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District. Below is a clip, courtesy of WSBT-TV, of the opening part of Luke’s acceptance speech. This speech was given at the St. Joseph County GOP headquarters on the south side of South Bend.
Thank you to everyone who made our victory possible. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to winning in the fall with your help!
For the 17th straight day gas prices have hit record highs. On Tuesday in the South Bend area the price of premium was $3.95 a gallon. Check out the video below to see how well the Democratic majority in Congress has done in keep our gas prices down.
Note: Luke was asked by the Pharos-Tribune to write a brief op-ed about why he was running for Congress. Below is what he wrote.
By: Luke Puckett
My name is Luke Puckett and I’m running for Congress in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District. As a small businessman, father, and citizen I’m running for Congress because I believe that we need common sense solutions to the challenges facing our country. The status quo in Washington needs to change and the actions of this Congress offer us no hope that real change is imminent.
On Friday, April 25th, our campaign became the first campaign in Congressional District 2 to launch TV advertisments for the 2008 cycle. You can view the ad, titled “Coming Change”, below. Enjoy!
Another Indiana based political blog has endorsed Luke Puckett in his bid to become the next Congressman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.
Kevin Tracy, the head blogger at KTracy.com, stated in his post:
“Puckett is a pro-life, pro-family, pro-second amendment, pro-tax relief, pro-intelligence, pro-border security Republican. This guy has it where it counts in my book.”
You can read the endorsement, titled “Luke Puckett Can Win Back a Seat Republicans Lost in 2006″, by clicking here.
Barack Obama has declared that small town Americans cling to “guns and religion.” Belittling the rights protected in our Constitution and mocking the faith that sustains us is something that is just plain wrong.
Joe Donnelly is a super delegate in the Democratic presidential nominating process. He is also the one who is supposed to represent Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District. Yet after receiving $7,500 from Barack Obama’s Political Action Committee, Joe Donnelly has refused to speak up and say that he doesn’t appreciate Barack Obama’s condescending and elitist comments.
The South Bend Tribune has this article about Donnelly’s refusal to condemn Sen. Obama’s inappropriate and revealing remarks.
The Puckett campaign has released this press release asking Joe Donnelly to declare for his constituents and not an ultra liberal presidential nominee.
Luke spent part of his Saturday last week down in Indianapolis being interviewed by two of the bloggers who blog at Hoosier Access, one of the state’s leading and fastest growing political blogs. You can listen to the half-hour interview here.
Many thanks to Josh Gillespie and Mike Jezierski for interviewing Luke.
This blog will be regularly updated with news, information, and commentary. Please feel free to leave comments with your thoughts or ideas. This campaign is about providing common-sense solutions to our nation's problems and common-sense solutions don't come from Washington, they come from you, the citizen.
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