(Editor's Note: Earlier this month, Grover Norquist --- member of GRIH's Board of Scholars and head of Americans for Tax Reform --- sent the following letter to Congress concerning U.S. energy policy.)

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), I am writing to express support for your proposed amendment to the Fiscal Year 2009 Interior Appropriations bill lifting the Congressional moratoria to allow oil and natural gas exploration and production in the Outer Continental Shelf.

As Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System has stated in the past, “The steep increases in energy prices over the past several years have had significant consequences for households, businesses, and economic policy.” Yet Congress struggles to adopt sound legislation to address rising energy prices at the pump and at the home, for both America’s short and long-term.

Increasing domestic supply is a critical component of the solution to bring natural gas prices back to an affordable level. Supply has not been able to keep pace with demand in large part because of federal policies that restrict the exploration and production of natural gas.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that at North America’s current pace, petroleum imports from the Persian Gulf will increase by more than 40 percent over the next 25 years.

As you are aware, lifting the moratoria for oil and natural gas exploration and production would open millions acres on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for oil and gas leasing. The resource estimates for the restricted areas is estimated at 17.84 billion barrels of oil and approximately 76.47 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The natural gas supply made available by this agreement is enough to heat and cool nearly sixty million homes for twenty years. If the United States is serious about reducing our dependence on foreign oil we must look domestically. Any legislative solution must maintain the principles of America’s free market economy in order to effectively and efficiently provide energy sources for future generations.

Grover Norquist is the head of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington, D.C.