mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , my amendment will remove the words `` natural gas '' from the moratorium that has been in every interior bill , i am told , for 20 some years , unbeknownst to many members of this congress , that prohibits the department of interior from leasing or subleasing lands on the outer continental shelf , our greatest reserve for natural gas . 
the number one economic challenge facing america was not addressed in our energy bill , in my view and the view of many , because we did not adequately deal with the clean fuel , the fuel that has no no x , no so & lt ; cite & gt ; & lt ; /cite & gt ; x , the least co & lt ; cite & gt ; & lt ; /cite & gt ; 2 , the clean-burning fuel , natural gas , that can be our bridge to the future . 
it is threatening home ownership , folks . 
76 percent increase in oil prices , 176 percent increase in natural gas prices . 
here is what one of our leading employer group says : america has a new energy crisis . 
this time it is the runaway price of natural gas . 
congress must act now to ease the natural gas crisis of this nation 's fragile economic recovery , or it will return to recession . 
every recession since world war ii has been preceded by a run-up in energy prices and none of the run-up in prices have equaled the run-up in natural gas prices . 
it is threatening small business . 
it is the fastest increase in the cost of education . 
it is the fastest increase in the cost of our hospital health care . 
it is the greatest threat to our farm community with exploding fertilizer costs . 
and because fertilizer factories use so much natural gas , 21 of them have quit making fertilizer in america , and all of them are looking offshore to produce fertilizer . 
ninety thousand chemical jobs , some of the best paying jobs in the industrial sector we have left . 
polymers and plastics are all looking to move offshore . 
the production of natural gas on the outer continental shelf is not looked at as an environmental threat by canada , they sell us gas that they produce , the uk , norway , australia , new zealand , all countries with environmental records . 
eighty-five percent of our gas reserves are locked up by moratorium . 
why ? 
it is the clean fuel . 
as i said before , no docks , co 2 one-fourth as much . 
it is the bridge to hydrogen . 
it could be bridging us in the transportation field like school buses , transportation systems , taxicabs , delivery trucks , easily changeable to natural gas if it was affordable and we had adequate supply . 
natural gas is 25 percent of our energy use today . 
if we had an adequate supply , it could be the friendly bridge , the environmentally friendly bridge , to lead us to hydrogen , give us time for stronger conservation measures , growing use of renewables and less dependence on oil today . 
a gas well is not an environmental threat . 
it is a 6-inch hole that is cemented at the top and cemented at the bottom with a steel casing , and it lets gas out . 
canada produces in our great lakes and sells the gas to us with no environmental impact . 
when we look at this map , and this is my concluding comment , the natural gas and oil , when we buy $ 50 oil , the whole world buys $ 50 oil ; but in natural gas we are at $ 7 . 
europe is at $ 5-something . 
japan and china are 4-something , and then we look at a dollar , 90 cents in russia . 
where are industries going to grow ? 
they are not going to grow here . 
this is the most important amendment we will consider , in my view , in this part of congress . 
natural gas is a tragedy happening , and we can stop it by lifting the moratorium . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
