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Lucas Wants Action on Energy Plan

This week during The Ag Minute, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., called on President Obama to join House Republicans in moving forward with an all-of-the-above energy plan that reduces costs for America's farmers and ranchers, creates jobs, and improves our energy security. On Tuesday at a press conference, President Obama stated that "the only way we are going to solve this problem is with an all-of-the-above strategy," yet Lucas says the President failed to offer any new solutions to increase American energy supplies and help make prices more affordable.

"If you work in agriculture, you know the impact of high energy costs," Lucas said. "Whether it's the diesel for the tractors and farm equipment, the energy required for producing fertilizer, petrochemicals, and seed, or the energy necessary for harvesting, processing, and transporting products to the grocery store, farmers are especially sensitive to the costs of energy."

According to Lucas the present trend of higher gas prices hits America's farmers extra hard, and the only solution to the problem is an all-of-the-above energy policy that responsibly develops all our domestic forms of energy. 

"President Obama likes to claim he supports this approach, but he has yet to prove it," Lucas said. "For example, he recently rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would have expanded American energy production and created thousands of jobs."

Lucas says the President has also restricted drilling in offshore areas while encouraging other countries to expand their own exploration, and he has proposed costly regulations that would increase the costs and limit the supply of other domestic sources of energy.