We Can’t Drill Our Way Out Of This Crisis?
Earlier this morning, I posted something titled “Pelosi Plays the Fool.” Now I’m calling Ms. Pelosi on why shey’s changed her mind on drilling. Ms. Pelosi’s statements at her weekly press conference are now contradicted by Steny Hoyer’s quote in this Reuters article. Here’s what Ms. Pelosi said during her press conference:
“This call for drilling in areas that are protected is a hoax, it’s an absolute hoax on the part of the Republicans and this administration” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. “It’s a decoy to punt your attention away from the fact that their policies have produced $4-a-gallon gasoline.”
Here’s what Rep. Hoyer said today:
“Let’s be clear: Democrats support increasing the domestic production of petroleum and other energy resources.”
Rep. Hoyer is more full of shit than a Christmas goose.
- If Democrats “support increasing the domestic production of petroleum and other energy resources”, why wasn’t it in the non-energy Energy Bill passed earlier?
- If Democrats “support increasing the domestic production of petroleum and other energy resources”, then why was the mantra “We can’t drill our way out of this crisis” created?
- If Democrats “support increasing the domestic production of petroleum and other energy resources”, then why did Speaker Pelosi call additional drilling a hoax?
Most importantly, it should be known that Democrats still haven’t said anything about ANWR or the OCS:
He outlined legislation, which could reach the House floor as early as next week, that he said would speed development of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, where drilling activity has been slow.
Democratic leaders also hammered away at the U.S. oil industry, saying it is doing little with the leases it already holds to drill on 68 million acres in the lower 48 states. Under the Democratic bill, such lease holders would have to “use it or lose it,” Hoyer said.
If the name National Petroleum Reserve doesn’t ring a bell, that’s perhaps because it’s often associated with the Brooks Range:
You’ll notice that the Brooks range is also in Alaska’s tundra region but that it’s 150-250 miles west of ANWR and possibly 50-100 miles south of the huge known reserves found in ANWR’s Coastal Plain.
- If Democrats truly are in favor of increasing oil exploration and production, why aren’t they opening ANWR, where there’s huge known reserves of oil and natural gas?
- If Democrats truly are in favor of increasing oil exploration and production, why aren’t they opening the OCS?
- If Democrats truly are in favor of increasing oil exploration and production, why aren’t they opening the spigot enough to make a difference?
Here’s a boneheaded, pandering comment from Majority Whip James Clyburn:
“People are hurting because the Bush-Cheney administration for eight years has stood with big oil and big energy instead of the American people,” said House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat.
Rep. Clyburn’s comment is insulting. The Bush administration “has stood with big oil” because there aren’t many wildcatters with the financial wherewithal to drill on the OCS, in ANWR or on the Brooks Range. This is just a pathetic attempt to sound like they’re on the side of ‘the little guy’.
NEWSFLASH: ‘The little guy’ won’t see relief if Big Oil isn’t permitted to do its job. That’s how we got into this mess. Environmental do-gooders prevented ‘Big Oil’ from doing what they do best: supply oil to American consumers. We know this from this article:
“So the debate started way back in 1977, I think that was the first time I came to Congress and testified on that issue,” Herrera recalled.
At that time, Stan Senner was a young environmentalist from Fairbanks, Alaska. He flew to Washington to lobby for protection of the coastal plain, a wilderness teeming with wildlife in northeastern Alaska. “We knew right from the outset that it was going to be a big fight,” Senner recalled.
It’s obvious that Democrats have sided with the environmentalists for 30+ years. Based on the Democrats time-tested allegiance to the environmentalists, isn’t it accurate to say that Democrats have stood with the environmentalists instead of the American people”?
What have Democrats done on increasing oil production in the last 10 years? More precisely, have Democrats done anything to increase oil production in the last 10 years?
The bottom line to this abrupt reversal by the House Democratic leadership is proof that this issue is a ticking electoral time bomb that doesn’t benefit Democrats and that Democrats can only apply bandaids on this crisis because their environmentalist allies won’t permit them to truly open the spigot to energy independence.
Pelosi and Hoyer know that they’ll get clobbered if they’re seen as doing nothing. They also know that they can’t go farther than this gimmick because the environmentalists will be hopping mad if they do.
The Lady Logician is right in saying that we can get out of this mess. It’s just that we can’t with Pelosi and Hoyer bowing at the environmentalists’ altar.
Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Oil Exploration, Oil Production, National Petroleum Reserve, ANWR, Brooks Range, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, Environmentalists, Crisis of Choice, Big Oil, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
July 11th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
“Democratic leaders also hammered away at the U.S. oil industry, saying it is doing little with the leases it already holds to drill on 68 million acres in the lower 48 states. Under the Democratic bill, such lease holders would have to “use it or lose it,” Hoyer said.”
if they keep saying it, it might be true. here is the fly in the ointment, the leases BLM has up now are for 10 Years, if the leases do not produce whatever in ten years the leases expire, and they are re-bid. second how many of the leases that have been bid out already have been converted to forbidden to drill areas, essentially making the bids worthless(see Utah oil shale).
July 11th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
So, is the ONLY oil in Alaska DIRCTLY under ANWR, A NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ?? there is NONE next to it in any direction?? does that make any sense ??
Another issue with the story is why not let the 68 million acres go into bidding again if hey have just SAT ON IT FOR 10 YEARS?
You really dont think the oil companies have a stake in keeping the prices high ?
When do we stop shipping 1.5 million barrels a day to Japan that we CURRENTLY SUCK OUT OF ALASKA ?? where is the outrage over that?? GUiliani had the balls to say in reply to that issue, “we are a capitolist society and they will pay more”. Where is the outrage over the FACTS and the dismissing of the GOP lies.
Even the Bush department of energy says drilling in ANWR and off the OCS will only lower gas prices by pennies in 7-10 years. is that the “man on the moon” style VISION Americans need right now. NOPE
July 11th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
“Another issue with the story is why not let the 68 million acres go into bidding again if hey have just SAT ON IT FOR 10 YEARS?”
what makes you think some of it is not up for rebid? if you go to the BLM site(dont’t have the url) you can see some of the area they have up for bid now.
so far no one has published any info in any of the bids on the 68 million acres that are supposed to be outstanding, no maps nothing.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Thers another myth,
Doesn’t make a difference where in hell it, is including your sacrosanct wildlife refuge.
Fact is, you could take a lesson from the caribou. The wild life up there has adapted to the existing drilling sites better than you have!
July 12th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Why do anything if you can’t get result NOW? That’s the attitude of the dems. We need to drill in ANWR now for the future. And drill any place else that can be drilled also.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:40 am
The attitude of the Dems is Why drill out of a crisis that will only line the pockets of the GOP corporate donors? why not SOLVE the problem instead of push it back to our grandchildren. We know we need to get off the oil teet, so why not use this crisis to jump start the SOLUTION. a 4 cent reduction in gas prices 7-10 years from now is not the solution I thisnk the people are yearning for.
TA Gray, According to you, the Caribouw ould be greatful for a warm oil bath if the pipeline ruptured. Give me a break !!!
Why do none of you answer my questions??
Why not drill Next to the “postage stamp sized” wildlife refuge, instead of drilling IN IT?? Alaska is very large and the ONLY oil is directly UNDER the one wildlife refuge??? Logic and common sense are VOID in your argument. I think you know it.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
You know…
One of the biggest hit TV series as of late is a show called “Ice Road Truckers”. This season they are covering the Mackenzie River ice road.
Part of the routes these truckers cover are routes to oil rigs on land that is the same as what ANWR is, yet I hear no screeching out of the moonbats about Canada drilling in these areas. Why is that? Those areas are just as pristine and full of endangered species as ANWR. Could it be that it is CANADA that is doing the drilling and not the “evil United States”?
One would think that if these “environmentalists” were so concerned about the arctic they would be howling about Canadian oil exploration in the arctic, too.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Memo to moonbats and “environmentalists” who will shriek about my last post.
I actually lived above the Arctic Circle and know what those places are actually like.
You, on the other hand, are little energy hogs who think that magic happens and you have all the electricity you want to power your computers and your local Charbucks and think that those jets you fly on to go on your “ecotours” use pixie dust for fuel.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
one more thing about the 68 million acres, in Michigan they wanted to drill an exploratory well and were stopped by a judge to protect a bird.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Tag oviously hasn’t had the education to examine her premises, one of which is that only “big oil” will get rich if we drill in ANWR. He/she doesn’t have a clue to the additional riches to the econazis’ economic windfall if the drilling is stopped.
And that’s just for starters.