AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment Director Kathleen Hartnett White and Center for Fiscal Policy Economist Dr. Vance Ginn issued the following statements on the agreement announced this morning to end the 40-year ban on oil exports:
“Ending the outdated ban on exporting domestic crude oil would provide a substantial stimulus to our sluggish economy and could help stabilize the now shaky geopolitical order,” said the Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White, distinguished senior fellow-in-residence and director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at TPPF. “In only the last few years, the shale revolution has made the United States the world’s largest energy producer. Allowing our burgeoning supplies of crude oil and natural gas to enter the world markets would change the global energy landscape. “
“We applaud the action taken by Congress to end the antiquated ban on oil exports,” said Dr. Vance Ginn, economist at the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Limiting the global oil supply by prohibiting sale of domestically produced oil has distorted global oil prices for far too long. However, it is preferable that all energy sources be allowed to compete on a level playing field without government support of production tax credits and the like so that Texans and all Americans can benefit from greater prosperity.”
Recent TPPF commentary on this issue ran in The Hill, Real Clear Policy, and the McAllen Monitor.
The Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White is a Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and the Director for the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment. She is also former Chairman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (2001-2007).
Dr. Vance Ginn is an economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.