There are 635 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable resources on federal offshore lands, and 102 billion barrels of oil.

There's enough natural gas to heat more than 60 million homes for 100 years, and enough oil to fuel almost 60 million cars for 30 years.

Utilizing these offshore resources can help:

• Increase America's energy supply by opening new areas of the energy-rich ocean and Gulf of Mexico waters to production. Approximately 85 percent of all federally controlled ocean waters are currently off-limits to energy production.
• Help reduce record-high energy costs to American industry and consumers.
   
• Empower coastal states to control their own destiny by managing production far out in the ocean off their coastlines – areas now under the federal government's control.
   
• Allow coastal states to benefit financially from energy development by sharing in revenues which currently flow to federal coffers and could be used to support education, transportation, coastal protection and other local needs. These royalties will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue. 
   
• Reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
   
• Improve our national security.

Recent public opinion polls in six coastal states show that a clear majority of voters favor ocean exploration and production of energy provided that their state is allowed to share control with the federal government over the leasing process and production revenues.

Congress must act now to help the nation's energy consumers. America needs new sources of domestic energy for greater national security and more affordable energy to support economic growth. Furthermore, states need new revenues not only to help with coastal remediation and recovery from natural disasters, but also for education and other important needs.