Wednesday - June 11, 2008

Is the GOP finally waking up?

With oil and gas prices reaching record highs and little relief in sight, Republican members of Congress are looking at a long-sought, but so far unsuccessful plan to open American shores up to more petroleum exploration.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa. is leading the charge Wednesday, when he’ll push for an amendment to a spending bill that would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling. The first 50 miles off shore would be left alone.

“For 27 years, Congress has deliberately locked up vast offshore oil and natural gas reserves,” Peterson said, according to USA Today. “With the price at the pump increasing daily — with no end in sight — and the cost of natural gas trading at record levels, Congress needs to unlock these reserves.”

Most oil production and exploration has been banned since 1981.

“Tapping America’s huge reserve of deep ocean energy helps us fight terrorism and increases our domestic energy supply, which will help put downward pressure on gasoline prices,” Greg Schnacke, President of Americans for American Energy, said in a news release, adding: “With Americans suffering at the gas pump and with higher energy bills, it’s a no-brainer that the OCS should be developed.”

But the proposal has faced staunch opposition from environmental groups from states where the shorelines are under consideration for drilling, like Florida.

Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.

“The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem. And all we’ve got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas,” Manuel said, adding “since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we’ve tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn’t worked.”

Environment Florida spokeswoman Holly Binns told the Media General news group that offshore drilling has no immediate impact on prices.

“It would take anywhere from seven to 10 years to bring those resources to shore — to have any measurable impact on supply,” Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.

Democrats are holding their own series of events on Capitol Hill Wednesday to focus attention on global warming and energy independence, but drilling is not on the agenda. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday ongoing calls for more drilling “is the Johnny One-Note of the Republican Party.”

Not surprisingly, the issue has spilled into the ream of presidential politics as well.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized Democrats, including fellow Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over recent comments Obama made regarding gas prices.

The comments that McConnell referred to were given during an interview with CNBC. Discussing rising gasoline prices, Obama said: “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.

Obama also said that “if we take some steps right now to help people make the adjustment, first of all by putting more money into their pockets, but also by encouraging the market to adapt to these new circumstances more quickly, particularly U.S. automakers, then I think ultimately, we can come out of this stronger and have a more efficient energy policy than we do right now.

McConnell, honing in on Obama’s referral to “gradual” price increases, said Obama’s remarks are evidence that Obama believes “rising gas prices aren’t the problem. The problem, he suggested, is that they’ve gone up too fast. He said he would prefer a gradual adjustment.”

He continued: “Whether it’s shutting down domestic exploration in large areas both onshore and offshore, instituting a moratorium on oil shale development, increasing the gas tax, or refusing to pursue coal to liquids, Democrats long ago implemented a ‘gradual adjustment’ on gas prices that’s reflected today in the $4.05 Americans are paying for a gallon of gas.”

Let’s take a look ...
Ryan has bought himself a clue. His plan is basic, but it’s moving in the correct direction:

• Open up ANWR. Damn right. Screw the stupid caribou. Let the lefties bankrupt themselves with a humane relocation program. With any luck they’ll freeze to death in the process.


• Build more refineries. Gosh. Well, it looks like North Dakota is trying to get one. ONE. The first new one in 30 years.


• Reduce botique fuels. You know we have something like 40 different blends of gas in this country? That’s just stupid. And uneconomical

That’s a start Congressman. But you need to go further. A LOT further.



Washington, DC - Congressman John E. Peterson, R-Pa., along with the Republican Conference, unveiled a solutions based approach to solving our nation’s energy crisis, at a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol this morning. Peterson, who has been sounding the alarm on a looming energy crisis for over six years, issued the following statement:

“With the price at the pump reaching a new record high daily and the cost of natural gas soaring, Americans are sick and tired of this do-nothing Congress. From rural America to the big cities, Americans are struggling to cope with the rising cost of energy. Americans deserve a solutions based approach – not the finger pointing Democrats are accustomed to – to help alleviate the burden on senior citizens, the working poor, small business, and middle-class America. House Republicans have waited 18 months for Speaker Pelosi to bring energy production legislation to the floor; yet, all we get is tax and blame legislation.

“The solutions based approach Republicans rolled out today hits all aspects of the energy spectrum: increased domestic production of oil and natural gas, clean coal and advanced nuclear technology, increased efficiency and conservation, expanded investment in renewables, and cutting the bureaucratic red tape in Washington to allow refining and infrastructure expansion to occur. Folks, as simple and realistic as this proposal sounds, there is extreme opposition from Speaker Pelosi to even debate these issues in committee or on the House floor.

“The American people should know that extreme environmentalists are holding the energy resources of this country hostage. These unfounded fears and the influence of a small minority continue to force the price of energy to record highs. The aforementioned approach, proposed by the House Republicans, invites all Americans, Republican, Democrat and Independents, to join us in urging the Democratic Leadership in both the House and Senate to bring energy production legislation to the floor for debate. 

“In my nearly four decades of public service, I am hard pressed to find an elected official or private citizen that wants to harm the environment. I am confident, that with current technology, the will of the American people, and a solutions based approach, America can overcome any crisis, including the one we currently face, and increase domestic energy production in an environmentally friendly manor. 

Good move. Let’s get away from the old bullshit rallying cry of “the Republicans want to rape the environment and turn the whole country over to big business while the old people starve!!!”. Because it isn’t so. And it has never been so. NOBODY wants to screw up the environment. Not even Republicans. Hello, we live here too. And we want to keep the old people alive, because they’re the ones who own all the stock in Big Oil. Just kidding.

The Change America Deserves: Lower Energy Prices
When it comes to energy production, while our global competitors are pursuing 21st Century technologies, America is stuck in the 1970s. On electricity production alone, for example, just to keep up with new demand, by 2030, the United States must build 747 NEW coal plants, 52 NEW nuclear plants, 2,000 NEW hydroelectric generators, and add 13,000 NEW megawatts of renewable power. The dire need to increase domestic oil and gas production is no different. Yet, the Democratic Majority refuses to lead.
Republicans are committed to a comprehensive energy reform policy that will increase the supply of American-made energy, improve energy efficiency, and encourage investment in groundbreaking research in advanced alternative and renewable energy technologies. With 21st Century technologies and the strictest standards in the world, America can and must produce more of our own energy right here at home and protect our environment at the same time. That’s the change America deserves.

How Washington is Broken:

The Democratic Majority’s “Just Say No” Energy Policy Darkens America’s Energy Future:

• No production of American energy resources, which increases reliance on unstable foreign sources such as Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.


• No new oil refineries built, which increases gas prices and reliance on imported fuel.


• No new transmission lines, which hinders renewable electricity getting to consumers and reduces reliability.


• No new coal power plants, which increases electricity prices and stifles the economy.


• No new advanced zero-emission nuclear plants, which blocks one of the cleanest, most reliable energy sources available.


• No new zero-emission hydro-electric plants, which blocks reliable clean energy.


• No liquefied natural gas terminals, which increases prices and ships jobs overseas.


• Democrats’ prohibitions on producing American energy resources have made the U.S. more reliant on imported oil and natural gas.


• Democrats’ roadblocks on the utilization of energy from our North American neighbors, have made the U.S. more reliant on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).


• Democrats’ unfavorable tax rules have sent energy investment and production abroad.


• Democrats’ unnecessary red-tape and bureaucracy have made it nearly impossible to move forward on new clean power generation.


• Democrats’ 1970s-era energy policies have canceled dozens of power plants, reducing electricity supplies and increasing electricity costs to consumers.


• Democrats’ refusal to provide incentives for individuals and businesses has made it difficult to invest in efficient technologies.

How Republican Solutions Will Fix It:

• Fund R&D for better ways to find, get, and use the energy resources we already have


• Increase oil and gas production in the lower 48, in ANWR, and off the coasts, but do it without creating a mess


• Promote coal-to-gas and oil shale. We have enough oil in the oil shales to last for centuries. Let’s go get it.


• MORE NUKES!!


• Cut the Red Tape and streamline the permitting process for new exploration and production. Get rid of the policies that have forced the use of Botique Fuels


• Ease regulations and supply tax breaks to businesses and homeowners to upgrade to more efficient HVAC, insulation, and solar power

Here’s the latest EIA energy outlook paper. It is not a happy picture. We import 75% of our oil and are essentially hostage to the instability in the oil producing nations. No shit. It’s time to build a stronger America by building an freer America. I don’t like being a hostage, do you?




PS - you did get Newt’s email from Norway this morning didn’t you? Norway doesn’t seem to have an energy crisis. Norway has managed to balance off shore drilling with environmentalism. It’s a smart thing to do, getting a balance. Too bad the US has been mired in a seeming All Or Nothing miasma for decades, with the Nothing squad winning:

The U.S. Was Once a Leader in Offshore Drilling. Today Norway Is

The United States was a leader in the creation of the offshore drilling industry in the 1950s and early 1960s, but today it’s countries like Norway that are leaders in the field.

Norway’s annual output of 1.6 billion barrels of oil comes exclusively from offshore drilling. Oil and natural gas are transported through a network of sub seafloor pipelines. Norway is the home to the world’s largest natural gas drilling platform.

And the truly remarkable fact is that Norway has built this robust offshore oil and gas drilling industry alongside large and thriving fishing and tourism industries.

The Norwegian Model: Trust, Common Sense, and Green Conservatism

Norway has avoided the “everywhere versus nowhere” trap that has paralyzed U.S. offshore drilling through a common sense approach that is textbook Green Conservatism.

In Norway, strong environmental protections were part of exploration, drilling and transportation of oil and natural gas from the outset. This initial environmental emphasis has built the sense of trust necessary to allow Norway to move to a cooperative, performance-based model rather than a regulation-based model like we have in the U.S.

Norway has relatively few laws, regulations and government agencies that govern offshore drilling. Their equivalent of our Supreme Court - the Hoyesterett - reportedly declined jurisdiction over offshore drilling on the grounds that it lacks expertise!

The result is a policy in which environmental concerns are carefully balanced with energy needs. Norwegians have put some areas off-limits to drilling. In some areas, drilling is carefully circumscribed. But the point is that drilling occurs. Environmental concerns have informed - not pre-empted-Norway’s oil and gas industry.

The American Model: Distrust, Stalemate and Energy Crisis

Compare that to the United States, where a series of congressional prohibitions and presidential moratoria on offshore drilling - fed by public mistrust and largely unfounded environmental fears - have placed virtually all of the offshore United States off limits to drilling.

The United States is the only country in the world that so dramatically limits the exploration and development of its offshore oil and gas deposits.

The hysteria is so acute that both of our current presidential candidates even voted in 2005 in favor of willful ignorance about our domestic energy resources. Each voted for an amendment that would have removed from the energy bill that ultimately passed a provision for a comprehensive inventory of the oil and natural gas resources in the offshore continental shelf of the United States. Fortunately the amendment failed—even though one of the two candidates is still the sole sponsor of a bill to repeal the authorization of the inventory. You can read the inventory here that 44 U.S. Senators didn’t want you to read and learn that the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates a mean of 85.9 billion barrels of undiscovered recoverable oil and a mean of 419.9 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered recoverable natural gas in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf of the United States.

I’m not suggesting that the United States adopt the level of government involvement in oil and gas that Norway has (its major petroleum producer, Statoil, is a public-private company). And I’m too much of a realist to think that the U.S. oil and gas industry and the environmental groups are going to suddenly sit down, hold hands together, and forget their differences.

What I am advocating is a more informed public making its demands of energy independence clear to our government.

New Poll Shows Broad, Bipartisan Support for Tapping Domestic Energy Sources, Including Offshore

Last week American Solutions released the results of new survey research dealing with energy security, coal and climate change. The adults surveyed made clear that Congress should prioritize increasing the availability of affordable energy over battling climate change.

In pursuit of the immediate goal of energy security, clear majorities of Americans of every political and ideological stripe advocated the U.S. tap into its voluminous domestic energy resources, including the oil located off its coasts and in Alaska and the coal deep within its grounds. Clean coal was particularly popular and Americans urged the swift building of zero emissions coal plants.

Americans prefer a greater use of domestic energy sources and an innovation-encouraging tax policy that rewards businesses for new energy solutions. While there were some political and ideological differences, for the most part, Americans stood united in favor of a smart, practical energy policy that would allow them to drive to work and power their homes without breaking their bank accounts. For additional information, including the survey results, click here.

A Vote to Watch: The Peterson Amendment to Lift the Offshore Drilling Moratorium

This week, Congressman John Peterson (R-Pa.) will offer an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that would lift the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling.

Contact your member of Congress today and urge them to support the Peterson Amendment to restore sanity and common sense to our domestic energy policy.

Every American should keep their eyes on the House Appropriations Committee this week to see whether members vote to support our desire for environmentally responsible increased domestic energy production, or whether they continue to bury their heads in the sand.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/11/2008 at 10:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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