Amendments may be considered by the U.S. Senate to remove the moratorium on natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf.
Background
Recently the Agricultural Energy Alliance (AEA) and the National Grange wrote to Senate Appropriations Committee members urging them to vote in favor of amendments removing the moratorium on natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf.
Experts say that food production will need to double in the next 20 years to meet rising global demand. But today, tight natural gas supplies have driven U.S. farm inputs and energy prices to all time highs, increasing farm production costs. The U.S. farm sector is being weakened by constraints on onshore and offshore natural gas development, even as global demand for food is growing every year. By wisely developing and utilizing our own national resources, Congress can help ensure that farming remains an economically viable occupation. Onshore and offshore natural gas production is a vote for food security. The farm sector depends on significant amounts of natural gas for food processing, irrigation, crop drying, heating farm buildings and homes, and the production of crop protection chemicals and fertilizer. The National Grange policy calls for increased domestic energy production, in part, because an additional supply of American energy resources is critical to maintaining a competitive agricultural sector.
On a related note, the U.S. Senate has been working together on a bi-partisan energy summit and should be thanked for their willingness to address energy supply issues through increased domestic production.
Grange Policy
Energy Development
- The National Grange urges the repeal of laws and regulations that have blocked or discouraged United States’ energy production by private enterprise. We support a national energy policy that will encourage the development of all forms of domestic energy, traditional and alternative, including solar, wind, geothermal, ethanol, surf, shale, tar sands, hydroelectric, agricultural products, wastes, peat, wood, coal, coal gasification, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydrogen, biodiesel and methanol in an environmentally sound manner without exploiting our parks and wildernesses in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
- The National Grange favors the complete utilization of petroleum and other mineral resources, including the exploration and production of oil reserves on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and from any outer continental shelf lease sales in accordance with the terms of an environmentally sound development plan.
Action Needed
Please e-mail your U.S. Senators urging them to vote for any amendment to remove the moratorium on natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf before the end of this session of Congress. Please fell free to cut and paste the following sample letter. If you do not know your Senators’ e-mail addresses, please click here to find them.
Sample Letter
Dear Senator ___________,
I am writing to urge you to support any amendment removing the moratorium on natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf. Experts say that food production will need to double in the next 20 years to meet rising global demand. But today, tight natural gas supplies have driven U.S. farm inputs and energy prices to all time highs, increasing farm production costs. The U.S. farm sector is being weakened by constraints on onshore and offshore natural gas development, even as global demand for food is growing every year. By wisely developing and utilizing our own national resources, Congress can help ensure that farming remains an economically viable occupation. Onshore and offshore natural gas production is a vote for food security. The farm sector depends on significant amounts of natural gas for food processing, irrigation, crop drying, heating farm buildings and homes and the production of crop protection chemicals and fertilizer. I urge you to increase domestic energy production, in part, because an additional supply of American energy resources is critical to maintaining a competitive agricultural sector.
On a related note, it is my understanding that the U.S. Senate has been working together on a bi-partisan energy summit and I thank you for their willingness to address energy supply issues through increased domestic production.
Again, please vote in favor of any amendment allowing natural gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Grange name and number
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If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact Molly Thompson at mthompson@nationalgrange.org or by calling 1-888-4GRANGE.
Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.
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