Chet Edwards For Congress

Energy & Gas Prices

• Chet has voted to strip big oil companies of certain tax breaks and subsidies, because he believes that it is wrong, during a time of war, for big oil companies to post record profits while charging consumers over $3.70 a gallon for gas.




• Chet voted to halt deposits of oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for the remainder of the year and supports the releasing of oil from the SPR to increase supply on the open market and further help reduce rising gas prices. Chet believes doing so would demonstrate a U.S. commitment to reduce speculation in the oil market which, some energy experts have said accounts for as much as 20-30% of rising gasoline costs.




• Chet supported the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which increased fuel mileage to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, the first increase in mileage standards since 1975, and provided $21 billion in tax incentives to increase production of domestic renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy.




• Chet is leading the fight in Congress to open up the outer continental shelf to natural gas drilling, which would increase natural gas supply, lowering costs for home heating and electricity.

Plans to Expand Oil Reserve Are Clouded

By Ben Casselman | Wall Street Journal | 27 May 2008

Edwards: "It would defy common sense to try to expand the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve during a time of high energy prices."

The decision in Washington last week to stop filling the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is calling into question longer-range plans to expand the reserve's capacity -- a potential blow to the impoverished Mississippi town that stands to gain from the expansion.

The U.S. Department of Energy is pressing forward with plans to expand the world's largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude, to one billion barrels from its current 727 million-barrel capacity. But while Congress approved the expansion in 2005 in an effort to keep up with rising U.S. oil consumption, it has yet to fund the $5 billion project. With oil prices topping $130 per barrel last week, that funding is increasingly in doubt.

"It would defy common sense to try to expand it during a time of high energy prices," says Rep. Chet Edwards, a Texas Democrat who sits on the subcommittee that will review funding for the expansion.

May 14, 2008

Congress urges Bush to halt oil reserve shipments

By H. JOSEF HEBERT | Associated Press

Congress voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to challenge President Bush to temporarily halt the daily shipment of thousands of barrels of oil into the government's emergency reserve.

Lawmakers disagreed on what — if any — impact the suspension might have on gasoline prices and acknowledged it was but "a modest step" in addressing public anger over soaring energy costs.

Bush has steadfastly refused to halt shipments of about 70,000 barrel barrels of oil a day into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of salt caverns on the Gulf coast. The reserve, created to respond to major oil supply disruptions, holds 701 million barrels and is at 97 percent of capacity.

"There is no evidence that (suspending shipments) will affect the price of oil or gasoline in a meaningful way," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. He said the president opposes any congressional mandate to stop deliveries and believes Congress should focus on broader energy issues.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Waco Trib: Edwards joins call for halt to oil deposits in strategic reserve

Waco Tribune
By David Doerr

As the average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Texas crosses the $3.50 mark, a growing number in Congress, including U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, are proposing at least a temporary halt to the stockpiling of oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

May 1, 2008

Edwards Proposes Tapping Into U.S. Oil Reserves

Joe Brown |Reporter

Congressman Chet Edwards says the time has come for the country to tap into its petroleum reserves.

With crude closing in on $120 a barrel, Edwards is calling for the immediate release of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve into the open market. He says the increased supply would help halt rising gas prices which are predicted to hit $4 per gallon by summer.