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SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL: Crude oil export ban commercials target Congressman Joaquin Castro

 Oct 5, 2015, 1:40pm CDT Updated Oct 6, 2015, 8:12am CDT

Sergio Chapa Reporter San Antonio Business Journal

Congress is expected to vote on a bill that would lift a decades-old crude oil export ban but the debate is heating up on San Antonio's airwaves.

The Washington D.C.-based group Producers for American Crude Oil Exports, or PACE, has purchased a series of cable television ads to get the public to put pressure on their congressmen to vote yes for House Resolution 702.

Specifically targeting cable news networks, college football games and digital television channels, the ads will run in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico and Texas.

Here in San Antonio, the commercials include a call for action asking viewers to call the office of local Congressman Joaquin Castro and ask him to support the bill.

PACE Executive Director George Baker said that despite recent technological gains in the shale oil and natural gas revolution, the crude oil export ban puts American energy companies at a disadvantage globally.

“Permanently repealing the ban would provide our global allies with a stable and secure supply of oil, while creating and protecting jobs here at home and putting downward pressure on U.S. gasoline prices," Baker said.

Both the United Steelworkers Union and a group of refineries known as the CRUDE Coalition oppose lifting the ban saying it will cost American refinery jobs and increase global air pollution from overseas refineries.

House Resolution 702 was authored and introduced by Congressman Joe Barton, R-Waco, back in February. So far, the has 137 co-sponsors including 16 Republicans and four Democrats from Texas.

Among the four Texas Democrats supporting the bill are Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, from the Rio Grande Valley and Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, whose district spans from San Antonio to the border.

Castro could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

Sergio Chapa covers the energy industry for the newspaper.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/blog/eagle-ford-shale-insight/2015/10/crude-oil-export-ban-commercials-target.html