Rubio touts end to oil-export ban, bemoans EPA in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Florida Senator Marco Rubio says the U.S. should end its ban on crude-oil exports and reduce stifling federal regulations on the energy industry, which he says is central to the nation’s economic prosperity.

Speaking to a group of about 150 mostly independent oil and gas producers and energy industry executives, Rubio unveiled some of his energy proposals at a meeting of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association in Oklahoma City.

The Republican presidential candidate also bemoaned the influence of the Environmental Protection Agency, which he says is restraining domestic oil and gas production.

Rubio says regulation of the industry should be left to individual states. He also says he would push to end the agency’s Clean Power Plan, which is aimed at reducing power plant carbon emissions.