Washington (October 7, 2015) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after President Obama issued a Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 702, House of Representatives legislation that would lift the longstanding crude oil export ban.

“President Obama is right to threaten to veto legislation that would lift the longstanding ban on exporting American crude oil, which would only increase prices for consumers at the pump, harm American businesses, our refining sector, and the environment, and weaken our national security. Lifting this ban should not be on our energy policy ‘To-Do’ list when we still import five million barrels of oil a day, much of it from unstable regions and hostile countries. The Big Oil-orchestrated push to pass this legislation and lift the ban is nothing more than an effort to pump up the oil industry’s profits at the expense of our energy security. Rather than considering legislation to increase the oil industry’s bottom line, Congress should make permanent the wind and solar tax credits that support the technologies that are helping reduce dangerous carbon pollution and creating clean energy jobs.”

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