April 18, 2005

Dear Representative,

We urge you to support the Grijalva amendment to strike Section 2005 from H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which would grant oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico a royalty holiday. We are deeply concerned with the skyrocketing cost of this energy bill, and the royalty suspensions in this bill will only serve to further bankrupt the U.S. Treasury, and place more of the burden of the nation’s rising federal debt on the backs of future generations. We urge you to vote against the bloated, energy bill and support the Grijalva Amendment and stop the boon to the oil and gas industries in Section 2005.

Section 2005 mandates the Secretary of the Interior to provide royalty breaks for deep water oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. The provision requires the Secretary to suspend royalties for at least tens of million barrels of oil equivalent in the five years following the energy bill’s passage. At current oil prices, this break would cost the U.S. government hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties.

At a time in which the oil and gas industry are reaping record profits, royalty relief will do little, if anything, to stimulate domestic energy production in the United States. With prices at near-record levels, energy companies are already flocking to the Gulf of Mexico – and the Minerals Management Service predicts that energy production will continue to rise over the next decade, with or without royalty holidays. This break to the Gulf of Mexico producers will thus do little to boost oil and gas production in the U.S., but it will cost taxpayers dearly.

The $89 billion energy bill currently before the House of Representatives is chock full of wasteful spending, tax breaks, and royalty holidays to the oil and gas industry, which is enjoying record profits because of the unusually high energy prices. We urge you to oppose the energy bill, and take a stand for fiscal responsibility by supporting the Grijalva amendment. If you would like more information, contact Evan Berger at (202) 546-8500 x111.

Sincerely,

Jill Lancelot
President / Co-founder