Last week the Obama administration announced plans to scale back the federal offshore leasing program to limit domestic oil and gas exploration.
"This latest plan, coupled with the 'de facto' moratorium on both deep and shallow water drilling concluded Moskowitz. in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, keeps abundant supplies of oil and natural gas off-limits, preventing them from being safely leveraged into more American jobs and secure, affordable energy supplies for American businesses and consumers," American Trucking Association's (ATA) Vice President and Regulatory Affairs Counsel Rich Moskowitz said.
Nearly 70 percent of all US freight and virtually all consumer goods move through the country's supply chain by truck, and the overwhelming majority of trucking companies are small businesses that suffer greatly from spikes in fuel prices.
In 2008, trucks required 37.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel at a record cost of $142.9 billion. The record-high diesel prices experienced in 2008 contributed to 3,065 companies with five or more trucks going out of business. When fuel prices rise, so do the prices of all goods carried by trucks," added Moskowitz.
"Restricting offshore exploration is a major setback for our nation's quest toward reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources," Moskowitz said. "Limiting access to domestic oil jeopardizes the efficiency of our supply chain, our economic health and ultimately harms American consumers."