Illinois manufacturers seek passage of resolution urging White House to
expand domestic oil exploration
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[March 24, 2022]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The high cost of
crude oil isn’t just costing drivers filling up at the pump more, it’s
also impacting the availability of everyday goods. Manufacturers are
looking for solutions.
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler said
the U.S. has plenty of resources to tap into.
“We have to use our domestic supplies,” Denzler told WMAY. “We shouldn't
have to go rushing to OPEC, which is what the Biden administration has
done to ask them to increase output. We have these resources right here
at home.”
Denzler said it’s not just crude oil that’s needed. Manufacturers use
other fossil fuels in producing all kinds of consumer goods.
“Natural gas is the feed stock in a lot of things, plastics, and
chemicals and fertilizer,” Denzler said. “So again, it’s very important
that we don’t turn off these resources and stop using them.”
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Greg Kozera with the nonprofit economic research group Shale Crescent
USA agreed that there’s plenty of resources domestically and
restrictions need to be lifted.
“There’s natural gas, natural gas liquids and oils, that we don’t need
to be paying these kinds of gasoline prices because we can fuel
ourselves,” Kozera told The Center Square. “We just need to be able to
drill more wells and expand production.”
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Some farmers have said there could be relief found by fostering more
biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. But Kozera said that would take
away from feed for livestock and humans, and it require lots more energy
to produce such ethanol and biodiesel.
“You gotta grow something and when we look at the amount, the large
volumes of diesel and gasoline that we use in this country, it’s really
not feasible,” Kozera said.
IMA and others are pushing for passage of a House resolution urging the
president of the United States to resume consistent, credible federal
lease sales and the construction of natural gas and new oil and gas
pipelines. The resolution is in an Illinois House committee.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other
issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning
broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of
Springfield. |