CHEMICAL MAKERS SEEK RELIEF

Abstract

A TOP CHEMICAL INDUSTRY official urged Congress on Nov. 17 to lift the generation-old moratorium on natural gas production along the U.S.'s outer continental shelf, warning that the consequences of insufficient supplies will soon become painfully clear to all U.S. consumers. If U.S. natural gas prices do not return to their historically affordable levels, American Chemistry Council President Jack I Gerard told a panel of the House Resources Committee, the nation's key manufacturing industries will accelerate the transfer of operations and jobs overseas, where the cost of energy is much cheaper. Paying the highest natural gas prices in the world puts Americabased manufacturing at a severe competitive disadvantage, and this is a largely self-inflicted wound, Gerard testified. What I can't predict is how Congress will respond to this crisis. There has never been a better or more critical time to pass natural gas supply legislation. The committee is considering ...