The effect of high gasoline prices on our economy should not be underestimated. Unless we take immediate steps, rising gasoline costs will have a negative impact on consumer prices and future job creation.
I am proposing a three-pronged attack on rising gasoline prices. Firstly, I support a five percent reduction in the Federal Government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventory. Secondly, I support immediately creating a single national standard for refined gasoline. Thirdly, I support the use of closed military bases for building new refineries.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world's largest supply of emergency oil. The program was designed to store crude oil to ensure that our nation has an adequate supply of oil on hand in the event of a major disruption of crude oil shipments. I believe that the United States currently has a more than adequate stockpile of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The current Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventory is approximately 700 million barrels. Approximately 150 million barrels of crude of oil have been added to the nation's emergency stockpile since November 2001. I believe that the Administration should announce an immediate five percent, or approximately 35 million barrel, reduction in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventory. The draw-down of oil from the reserve would likely lead to a quick reduction in crude oil prices and ultimately gasoline prices. In early 1991, President George Herbert Walker Bush announced a 33.75 million barrel draw-down that helped stabilize crude oil prices during operation Desert Storm.
Another contributor to high gasoline prices is the regional standards required by various federal and state regulations for refined gasoline. Under the current system, refined gasoline cannot be shipped freely throughout the United States. The regional standards have created artificial shortages and higher prices for consumers. I strongly support adopting a single national standard for refined gas in order to alleviate the artificial shortages created by the regional standards.
Lastly, a new refinery has not been built in the United States since 1976. We are badly in need of new refinery capacity to prevent future gasoline shortages and higher prices. I support using closed military bases as locations for new refineries.
I support long-term efforts to develop a comprehensive domestic energy policy. I support drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, the safe development of additional nuclear power plants and the development of wind and solar power producing facilities. However, in the meantime, I believe that my three-pronged gasoline price policy would have an immediate impact on lowering the high gasoline prices that are threatening our economy.
