FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 22, 2009
Contact: Phil Kerpen or James Valvo (202) 349-5880

30,000 Americans for Prosperity Members Demand Access to Domestic Energy Supplies

WASHINGTON—The freemarket nonprofit organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today announced that it submitted the largest public comment filing in the group’s history. More than 30,000 AFP members submitted comments in response to the Department of Interior’s request for input on its new 5-year leasing program in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). AFP’s members urged the Obama administration to approve all 31 pending leases in the OCS to help bring more domestic supply online.

“Our members are very concerned that the Obama administration is funding offshore energy exploration in Brazil, but they are blocking the private sector from doing the same thing here in America,” said AFP President Tim Phillips. “The administration has an opportunity to harness all of the energy options available to the country, which will be essential to stimulating our economic recovery.”

The Obama administration is poised to lend $2 billion from U.S. taxpayers to the Brazilian national oil company, Petrobras, for offshore drilling in Brazil. Meanwhile, the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is finally free to issue leases in the OCS after both congressional and presidential bans on drilling were lifted last year. However, political pressure has dissuaded MMS from issuing the leases.

“The grassroots movement won a huge policy victory last year when politicians listened to their constituents and allowed the dual bans on OCS domestic energy exploration to expire,” Phillips concluded. “It’s time for the president to let the market access dependable, affordable and abundant domestic energy.”