Letter to the Editor: Lift U.S. Ban on Oil Exports
Lift US Ban on Oil Exports | Letter to the Editor, July 28, 2015
By Nicolette Nye, via Connection Newspapers
To the Editor: Forty years ago, at the height of the 1970s energy crisis, Congress passed a law banning exports of oil from the lower 48 states. The law was intended to limit America’s dependence on imported oil by keeping domestic oil from leaving the country. It was not successful – oil imports continued to climb for decades. But the law stayed on the books.
The export ban isn’t just unhelpful, it’s actually doing damage to the economy, consumers and to national security. The good news is that momentum is building in Congress on legislation to lift the ban on U.S. oil exports. Doing so would create jobs, enhance energy independence, strengthen national security, and would cost American taxpayers nothing.
Nicolette Nye is vice president of communications and industry affairs at the National Ocean Industries Association, a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer and a resident of Arlington.
