In her first term in office, Karla Romero will make a comprehensive, long-term energy policy a top priority. Her goal is clear and far-sighted: promote affordable, reliable, and secure energy supplies by increasing conservation, investing in new technologies, and exploring for new domestic sources of energy. At the same time, Karla Romero will continue to make clear to foreign oil producers our mutual interest in maintaining adequate and secure supplies of foreign oil to meet our energy needs and to ensure the continuation of global economic growth. To achieve these goals, Karla Romero will:
Increase Domestic Energy Exploration and Production
Increase Domestic Energy Exploration and Production
- Initiate Environmentally Safe Exploration. Karla Romero will seek to promote environmentally sound domestic oil production in just one percent of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which could provide up to 1 million barrels of oil a day for nearly 20 years. This is an area that was originally set aside for energy development by the Carter administration.
- End the Ban on Oil Shale Development. The American West contains three times the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia in oil shale deposits. Karla Romero believes that we must bring all resources to bear if we are to break our dependence on foreign oil imports. As a member of Congress she will work with her colleagues to end the ban on oil shale development.
- Reform the Barrel Tax. The barrel tax is 5-cent-per-barrel tax collected from the oil industry on petroleum produced in or imported to the United States. This is the largest source of revenue for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF), an account that has been used as a resource to merely pay for special interest projects and other spending not related to the trust fund. Recent legislative proposals have sought to raise this egregious tax. This tax unfairly imposes a levy on the oil and gas industry and its’ consumers under the guise of addressing a need that is not really there. As a member of Congress Karla Romero will work towards to reforming the OSLTF and end the barrel tax.
- Reform the Gas Tax. After several attempts to create a federal gas tax beginning in 1914, in 1932 a tax was established at 1 cent per gallon. The tax was supposed to be a one-year revenue source to deal with a temporary federal budget deficit. However, like many "temporary" government schemes, the gasoline tax became a permanent fixture of federal law. Congress has increased the gasoline tax over the years, and it reached the current 18.4 cents per gallon in 1994. The tax rate on diesel fuel is currently 24.4 cents per gallon. In addition to federal fuel taxes, state governments impose their own taxes gasoline. In 2009 the average state gasoline tax was 18.5 cents per gallon. Revenues from the gasoline tax initially went to the federal government's general fund. But in 1956, the Federal Highway Trust Fund (FHTF) was created to finance construction of the Interstate Highway System. However, Congress has increasingly allocated FHTF monies toward non-highway uses, such as urban transit. The sources and uses of revenues in the FHTF have become ever more complicated, and the spending allocations across the 50 states and different types of activities illustrate central planning run amok. As a member of Congress Karla will work to reform this harmful tax that merely manages to inflate the cost of motor fuels and thus rob Americans of their hard earned income.
- Create a Low-Income Tax Credit. Aside from federal fuel taxes, drivers also have to contend with state imposed gasoline taxes. Karla Romero advocated for the creation of a new $50 tax credit for those with incomes under $20,000. Such a policy would offset the entire effect of state taxes on fuel for the average driver in the lowest income quintile.
- Promote Natural Gas Production. Natural gas is the new frontier America's energy future. Innovation in technology has made available a wealth of new energy resources in the U.S. We now have a more than 100-year supply of clean-burning natural gas that we had no idea about only a few years ago. Nearly 4 million jobs are supported by the natural gas industry, which adds more than $385 billion to the national economy. And this is merely the start. From the coal-bed methane natural gas found throughout the Mountain West, to the shale gas formations along the Northeast’s Appalachian Basin, to the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico, to the vast potential of the Arctic and other offshore resources, we have enough natural gas to keep America going strong into the next century. Yet most of these areas have been placed off limits to energy development. As a member of Congress, Karla Romero will work to end these bureaucratic and legal obstacles that prevent us from accessing these areas.
- Explore Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. Karla Romero will explore with other members of Congress the construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline to increase domestic natural gas supplies in the lower 48 states.
- Promote Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Karla Romero will advocate for facilitating construction of LNG terminals to meet growing demands for natural gas throughout our nation.
- Continue Energy Partnerships. Karla Romero will continue to develop a North American energy partnership to develop closer energy integration with Canada and Mexico.
- Help Build Refineries. Karla Romero will work to remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to help build new refineries to increase domestic capacity.
- Reform the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has become a job-killing regulatory engine of higher energy prices. Karla Romero supports reforming this government entity to an Environmental Solutions Agency that would use incentives and work cooperatively with local government and industry to bring about better environmental results, while at the same time weighing the impact of federal environmental policies on job creation and the cost of energy.
