HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	28
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

urging congress to decrease the united states' dependence on foreign oil and increase the country's energy efficiency.

     WHEREAS, the United States is one of the world's largest consumers of oil and oil-produced energy; and

     WHEREAS, as late as the 1970s, the major oil companies in the United States accounted for 50 percent of global oil production which has plummeted to a mere 13 percent today; and

     WHEREAS, oil production in the United States has decreased from 9 million barrels per day to 5 million barrels per day over the last 20 years making this country severely dependent on foreign imported oil; and

     WHEREAS, this reliance on foreign imported oil has had a negative impact on the economy of the United States as oil markets controlled by foreign interests have caused the price of a barrel of oil to fluctuate wildly over the past year; and

     WHEREAS, in the past, this wild fluctuation in oil prices caused gasoline prices to fluctuate wildly with the country experiencing rapid increases in gas prices over the past year; and

     WHEREAS, increases in oil prices in the past have caused transportation prices to increase and have initiated a domino effect on other costs, including costs for food, travel, home heating, and other expenses; and

     WHEREAS, the United States imports a tremendous amount of oil from foreign countries, although oil fields in the United States, including those in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, continue to produce large quantities of oil; and

     WHEREAS, the United States exports approximately 1.8 million barrels of our own oil each day; and

     WHEREAS, switching our energy dependency to other sources of energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal, to name a few, would not only reduce the amount of oil imports needed by the United States but also have a positive effect on the environment and global warming; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the United States Congress is urged to decrease the United States' dependence on foreign oil and increase the country's energy efficiency by:

(1)  Stopping all oil exports from the United States to foreign countries;

(2)  Raising the auto fuel efficiency standards by 7.6 miles per gallon by 2010;

(3)  Proposing legislation to require that 25 percent of cars built in the United States for domestic use be electric cars by 2020;

(4)  Increasing the country's focus on electrical energy generated from non-fossil fuels; and

(5)  Shifting the policy for awarding energy subsidies in the United States from oil to solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, and deep ocean water energy;

and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional Delegation.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Urging Congress to decrease the United States' dependence on foreign oil and increase the country's energy efficiency.