The Hill News

Forget the summer driving season. Gasoline prices are about to enter the “Salazar Season.” The Salazar Season is defined as any time in which gasoline prices rise above $4.50 a gallon. That was the price above which then Senator Salazar refused to take any action to increase offshore energy exploration.

The history of Salazar Season dates back to July 31, 2008, when Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) brought legislation to the Senate floor that would address the price of gas at the pump. The Senate Republican leader tried to get agreement from Democratic senators to fast-track the legislation, and asked his counterpart Sen. Ken Salazar for his approval.
 
The legislation would go into effect when the price of gasoline reached $4.50 a gallon. Senator Salazar objected, saying that offshore drilling “will not do anything in terms of addressing the gas price issue which we are facing here today because it will not be effective in bringing down the price of gas.” McConnell then tried to pass the legislation at $5 a gallon. Salazar called it “a phantom solution.” McConnell tried to get an agreement at $7.50 per gallon, Salazar objected again. Finally, McConnell tried to get Democrats to expand drilling in the event gas prices reaches $10 per gallon. For one las! t time, Senator Salazar objected.
 
Of course, Ken Salazar isn’t Senator Salazar anymore, he is Secretary Salazar, the head of the Department of the Interior. And as Interior Secretary, Salazar has reigned over a crippling slowdown in drilling permits that has imposed a de facto moratorium on oil and gas exploration. When the Obama administration “lifted” the deepwater drilling moratorium on October 12, 2010, national gas prices averaged $2.79 a gallon. Over six months later â€" and over a dollar a gallon higher â€" permitting has yet to get back to normal.
 
In fact, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has proposed regulations so restrictive that their own bureaucrats admitted it will likely send American offshore drilling jobs to OPEC countries. A BOEM regulation issued on October 14, 2010 admitted: “Currently there is sufficient spare capacity in OPEC to offset a decrease in Gulf of Mexico deepwater production that could occur as a result! of this rule.” The Obama administration deliberately outsou! rced our energy independence to OPEC nations like Libya, and Americans are paying higher gas prices as a result.
 
Fortunately, there is legislation being considered to reverse Ken Salazar’s Season of high gas prices. The House is considering a series of bills as part of its American Energy Initiative. These bills are a welcome effort to expand offshore energy production, lower energy prices and create jobs. In particular, we commend the adoption of the Flores amendment on H.R. 1229, which would provide a one-year extension to the hundreds of leases impacted by the drilling moratorium. While rigs are idled due to regulatory delay, Congress should prevent time from running out these leases. The Flores amendment allows leaseholders to make up for lost time, and not let bureaucrats run out the clock.
 
We hope that House action will spur the Senate to consider companion energy legislation. A bipartisan consensus exists to put the Gulf of Mexico back to work. We ! have the resources and technology to make America less dependent on foreign oil. All we need is for Congress to supply the will â€" the will to drill.

Jim Noe is the executive director of the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition.