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AUDIO: “As gas prices spiral out of control and food costs continue to grow, making ends meet gets tougher everyday for New Mexico families.  While we try to do more with less, politicians in Washington, like Congressman Tom Udall have done nothing to bring prices down.  The U.S. is sitting on top of vast untapped oil reserves – estimated at about 2 trillion barrels – enough oil to last us for 300 years.”

FACT: Estimates Put US Domestic Oil Reserves As High As 2.3 Trillion Barrels. “The U.S. is sitting on the world’s largest, untapped oil reserves — reservoirs which energy experts know exist, but which have not yet been tapped and may not be attainable with current technology. In fact, such untapped reserves are estimated at about 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand — at today’s levels — for auto, truck, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.” (Jim Ostroff, “The U.S.’ Untapped Oil Bounty,” Kiplinger’s, 6/30/08)

AUDIO: “But Congressman Tom Udall continually votes against expanding energy exploration.  In fact he has voted a whopping 34 times against additional exploration.  More energy means lower prices for families.”

FACT: Please see vote compilation listed below.

AUDIO: “Congressman Udall says, ‘We are not going to drill our way out of this problem.’  But Congressman, shouldn’t drilling at least be part of the solution?”

FACT: UDALL: “But it’s clear we are not going to drill our way out of this problem.” (Michael Coleman, “Offshore Drilling OK With N.M. Delegation,” Albuquerque Journal, 6/19/08)

AUDIO: Call Tom Udall at 505.984.8950. Tell him to vote for new energy exploration and production.  New Mexico families can’t afford a 35th vote for high energy prices.  Paid for and authorized by the American Energy Alliance.”

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Washington, DC – The American Energy Alliance (AEA), a recently formed not-for-profit 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for free-market energy and environmental policies, today unveiled its first advertisements as part of what will become an ongoing American energy advocacy effort.  The spots will run in Colorado and New Mexico.  AEA president Thomas Pyle issued the following statement:

“Americans are feeling the effects of skyrocketing energy prices, and those are due in part to the failed policies of the government in Washington.  For nearly thirty years, Washington has banned production of American, taxpayer-owned energy resources on federal lands.  In short, Washington has restricted our supplies, and American families are paying the price.  That’s why the Alliance is launching these radio advertisements today.  It’s time to get the government out of the way and put American energy resources to work for the people who own them.”

AEA’s extended radio buy urges Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) to reverse their documented opposition to increasing domestic energy exploration and production by voting to end Congressional restrictions on producing domestic energy in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and other regions of the United States.

Text of the Colorado and New Mexico ads follows. Audio of the New Mexico ad can be heard here. Audio of the Colorado ad can be heard here.

As gas prices spiral out of control and food costs continue to grow, making ends meet gets tougher everyday for Colorado families.  While we try to do more with less, politicians in Washington, like Congressman Mark Udall have done nothing to bring prices down.

Colorado is home to an estimated 800 billion barrels of oil shale. That’s more oil than the entire kingdom of Saudi Arabia, right here in our own backyard.  But Congressman Mark Udall continually votes against expanding energy exploration.  In fact he has voted a whopping 34 times against additional exploration.  More exploration that would mean lower energy prices for Colorado families.

Congressman Udall tries to defend his votes by saying, “We can’t drill our way out of this.”   But Congressman, shouldn’t drilling at least be part of the solution?

Call Mark Udall at 303.820.2008. Tell him to vote for new energy exploration and production.  Colorado families can’t afford a 35th vote for high energy prices.

American Energy Facts:

•    Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and the key to our high standard of living in America.  There is a direct correlation between high energy prices and the shrinking supply of spare capacity of crude oil and natural gas.  Therefore, in order to reduce high energy prices for consumers, it is critically important to increase the global supply of crude oil and the domestic supply of natural gas.

•    The U.S. is now the only developed nation in the World that restricts access to its offshore energy resources.

•    Our economy and our consumers are feeling the effects of our government’s failure to increase domestic energy supplies to help meet the growing global demand for energy and sustain economic growth here at home.

•    With today’s advances in drilling and extraction technologies, exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas can be done in an environmentally responsible manner.  According to the U.S. Department of Interior, offshore operators produced 7 billion barrels of oil from 1985 to 2001 with a spill rate of a mere .001%

•    The Congressional bans on outer continental (OCS) and oil shale exploration and production expire on September 30th, the end of the federal government’s fiscal year, unless Congress votes to continue to the bans in the meantime.

•    As a Member of the Committee on Appropriations and its Subcommittee on Interior & Environment – the very panels responsible for these bans – Congressman Udall is in a unique position to help increase domestic supplies of energy by allowing the bans to expire.

About the American Energy Alliance (AEA)

The American Energy Alliance (AEA) is a recently formed not-for-profit 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for free-market energy and environmental policies.  It is affiliated with the Institute for Energy Research (IER), another not-for-profit – founded in 1989 – that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.  Both AEA and IER maintain that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.