Washington, D.C. - Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and 70 members of Congress have written to President Obama requesting that newly re-opened areas in the Outer Continental Shelf remain open for oil and gas exploration. “It’s important that President Obama steer a central, balanced path toward our energy future,” said Brady. “Tapping these energy resources would create more than 160,000 jobs over the next two decades.”

The letter is being delivered today to the White House and Department of the Interior, as the White House considers policy changes that would reverse the 5-year leasing plan of deep ocean waters in the Outer Continental Shelf. “Energy independence is a critical and achievable goal,” said Brady who personally visited the Independence Hub production platform in the Gulf of Mexico last fall for a firsthand look at how natural gas is produced. “With energy production in deeper waters than ever before, we should be putting our technology to work weaning our nation off foreign oil,” added Brady.

It is estimated that $1.7 trillion of government revenue would be raised from tapping the billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas under the deep oceans off our coast. During the height of the energy debate last fall, polls showed the vast majority of Americans preferred to find new sources of energy here in America rather that continue being at the mercy of foreign nations. The Obama Administration is currently reviewing reinstating the offshore drilling ban.