Connecting the Dots between High Gas Prices, Personal, Economic & National Security

Washington, DC - Tonight, beginning at 8:00 pm Eastern October 17, 2005, C-SPAN will broadcast LIVE on cable and the Internet Congressman Bartlett's latest one-hour Special Order Speech about Peak Oil. Congressman Bartlett will discuss the growing public debate about how the U.S. can overcome the threat to America's economic prosperity and national security posed by increasing world demand for oil and consensus projections of future declines in world oil production capacity. He will discuss the issue in depth as well as news developments including today's page 1 story in USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2005-10-16-oil-1a-cover-usat_x.htm. Streaming video on C-SPAN can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.cspan.org/watch/. The C-SPAN toll-free number to order copies of floor speeches is 1-877-662-7726.

Congressman Bartlett organized a three-hour Peak Oil conference with six energy experts on September 26, 2005 that was taped and distributed by C-SPAN. Leading off the presentations, Princeton Professor Emeritus Kenneth Deffeyes said, "This is an historic occasion. We have a conservative congressman, an Ivy League democrat, a radical social thinker and an investment banker all with the same message."

Among other media, the conference was covered by Fox 45 Baltimore WBFF-TV which posted the AP story on its website: http://www.foxbaltimore.com/baltimore_md/. Excerpt: “Mindful that the world is running out of fossil fuel and policies need to be in place to ensure that alternatives are available, U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., brought together experts in the field of energy to discuss the issue on Monday. ‘We can borrow money, but not time and energy,’ Bartlett, a Republican, said.�
A written transcript of the September 26, 2005 conference is posted on Congressman Bartlett’s website: http://www.bartlett.house.gov. More information about obtaining DVD copies of the September 26, 2005 conference can be found at: www.c-span.org

Forum
Energy Efficiency and Alternative Sources
September 26, 2005: U.S. House of Representatives, Bartlett, R. (R-MD)
Roscoe Bartlett , R-MD; Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Princeton University; Matthew Simmons, Simmons Investment International; Richard Heinberg, New College of California
1 x Energy Efficiency and Alternative Sources (189033-1) Media Format DVD
1 x Global Energy Supplies (189033-2) Media Format DVD

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has discussed global peak oil in a series of Special Order speeches in the U.S. House of Representatives beginning on March 14, 2005. Many are posted on Congressman Bartlett’s website at http://www.bartlett.house.gov. Transcripts can also be downloaded from the Congressional Record through the U.S. House of Representatives website: www.house.gov. The C-SPAN toll-free number to order videotape copies of floor speeches is 1-877-662-7726. An index of speeches in reverse chronological order is below. Speeches in which Congressman Bartlett participated as a guest in Special Order speeches by colleagues indicate the primary speaker in parentheses.

1 . ENERGY EFFICIENCY -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2005)
one-hour Special Order
2 . PEAK OIL -- (House of Representatives - July 19, 2005)
one-hour Special Order
3 . PEAK OIL -- (House of Representatives - June 08, 2005)
five-minute Special Order
4 . A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE ON ENERGY -- (House of Representatives - May 16, 2005)
one-hour Special Order (Rep. Vernon Ehlers)
5 . PEAK OIL -- (House of Representatives - May 16, 2005)
one-hour Special Order
6 . ENERGY -- (House of Representatives - May 12, 2005)
one-hour Special Order
7 . ENERGY -- (House of Representatives - May 11, 2005)
one-hour Special Order (Rep. Vernon Ehlers)
8 . PEAK OIL -- (House of Representatives - May 03, 2005)
one-hour Special Order (@45 minutes until midnight)
9 . OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL -- (House of Representatives - April 20, 2005)
one-hour Special Order (@20 minutes until midnight)
10 . OIL PRODUCTION -- (House of Representatives - March 14, 2005)
five-minute Special Order (Rep. Wayne Gilchrest)
11 . OIL DEMANDS -- (House of Representatives - March 14, 2005)
one-hour Special Order

Congressman Bartlett said, “America has only 2 percent of the world's known oil reserves.� We produce 8 percent and consume 25 percent of the oil produced worldwide and import 2/3 of the oil we use. We imported 1/3 at the time of the Arab Oil embargo. Oil production in the U.S. peaked in 1970 and has declined every year since then. Alaska and Gulf of Mexico oil slowed, but haven’t and can’t changed that trend. Energy experts agree that America can never produce enough oil domestically to meet our current or future demand.�

“Peak oil is not unique to America,� added Congressman Bartlett. “There is a consensus among energy experts that global peak oil will occur. The outstanding debate is only when it will occur and many credible experts argue that global peak oil is imminent.�

Congressman Bartlett said there are important geopolitical of global peak oil. “Forty percent of the world’s oil is shipped through the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf that is vulnerable to terrorist attacks. China increased its oil imports 25 percent last year. China is investing in oil projects around the globe and building a blue water navy to secure oil shipping lanes.�

Congressman Bartlett noted, “The United States is the most efficient and productive country in the world. We do lead the world. We cut our use of energy per $1 of GDP by 50 percent since the early 70’s. That’s really good. However, with only 2 percent of reserves and 8 percent of production, we’re depleting our reserves four times faster than the rest of the world.�

“American needs a national energy policy and a program on a scale of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II to prevent or mitigate the consequences of global peak oil,� urges Congressman Bartlett. “Doing nothing or doing too little too late will lead to a global economic and geopolitical tsunami with potentially devastating ramifications.�