WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today released the following
statement in response to the Obama administration’s announcement that it would
sell off 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
in an attempt to lower world oil prices:
“It seems that the administration is tampering with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to
deflect attention from the continuing bad economic
news and dodge political accountability. These reserves are not a
political tool and should not be used as such.
“I
appreciate the administration’s acknowledgement that supply actually does
matter, but raiding the national stockpile is a poor substitute for a sensible,
long-term energy plan that promotes the domestic production of our abundant
natural resources. The administration should instead look to our own natural
resources in Alaska, the Rocky Mountain West and elsewhere, if it believes, as
I do, that supply matters.
“Domestic
production not only reduces the need for foreign oil; it also provides our
nation with an opportunity to create jobs, generate government revenues, close
our trade deficit and pay down our debt. Raiding SPR doesn’t accomplish this.”
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