The drumbeat has begun in the campaign to demolish roadblocks on the way to developing more domestic natural gas supplies. The American Chemistry Council (ACC), representing America’s largest industrial users of natural gas, Tuesday were joined by members of Congress and key allied trade associations in a press conference calling for comprehensive energy legislation that addresses the long-term structural problems facing energy markets.

Focusing on the cost to industry and the nation of rising natural gas prices, the council outlined steps to solve gas supply problems in a letter to President Bush. ACC and its fellow trade groups have launched a campaign aimed at both the Administration and Congress to quickly increase available natural gas. Congress currently is considering new energy legislation (again).

“Americans will pay the price…feeling the effect of skyrocketing natural gas prices in the form of more expensive food, spiraling home heating bills and higher prices for many pharmaceuticals and consumer goods,” said ACC President Greg Lebedev.

Also weighing in Tuesday was the Process Gas Consumers Group (PGC), which said industrials are concerned about a national policy “that on the one hand, favors increased reliance on natural gas as the environmentally preferred fuel of choice, while on the other hand, promotes policies that limit the ability to either explore for, produce and/or bring natural gas to the market areas.” PGC said that “increased access to sources of natural gas will allow the market to stabilize the price of gas to a reasonable level.”

At the press briefing, ACC released a report detailing how high natural gas prices will lower GDP, consumer spending, savings and employment. The report describes how sustained high natural gas prices will reduce America’s economic growth rate by 0.2% a year, or $200 billion of lost GDP. High prices also will damage the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries, and some U.S. chemical production already has been taken offline as it is now too expensive to operate.

“No company, no industry, no consumer can absorb a three-fold increase in major raw material prices and continue to compete in the global marketplace,” added Lebedev. “And no economy teetering on the edge of recession can hang on to its recovery. In fact, every recession since World War II has been preceded by this sort of run-up in energy costs.”

Members of Congress at the event included Sens. Jim Talent (R-MO) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Reps. Gene Green (D-TX), Chris John, (D-LA) and Chris Bell (D-TX). They were joined by industry representatives from Degussa Corp., Dow Chemical Co. and Rohm and Haas. Allied trade associations participating in the event included the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Plastics Council and the Chlorine Chemistry Council.

ACC is calling on Congress and the administration to take a variety of immediate actions to ease this crisis. Most importantly, they must approve comprehensive energy legislation that addresses the long-term structural problems facing energy markets and opens new domestic supplies of natural gas. In addition, ACC is calling on the president to move immediately to reduce energy consumption in all civilian government agencies and to make an appeal to Americans to save jobs in their communities by conserving electricity and energy.

The government should avoid new regulations that motivate switching from coal to natural gas until adequate supplies are assured, the group said, and the U.S. should work with Canada and Mexico to increase the availability of natural gas in North America

“This situation was preventable,” added Lebedev. “We are in a crisis because Washington has failed to enact a sensible national energy policy.”

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