Democrats’ Talking Points???
Yesterday morning, Michele Bachmann debated New Jersey’s Rep. Frank Pallone. I’m certain that one thing that Rep. Pallone said isn’t in the Democrats’ talking points. Here’s the interview’s transcript, conducted by CNN’s Ali Velshi:
VELSHI: Well, drilling in ANWR, drilling offshore and more places in the United States, exploring renewable alternatives, finding more energy here at home is the focus of the energy bill that Congress has been working on. And we wanted to have a substantive discussion about this with two of the people whoa re involved in making decisions in Washington. So joining us now from Minnesota is Republican Congressman Michele Bachmann. And here in studio is Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone from New Jersey. Welcome to both of you. Thank you for being with us.
Congresswoman Bachmann, I want to talk to you first about this, because those pictures that we just showed we took from an airplane above ANWR, and you were with us on that airplane. You went up there to sort of get a sense for yourself about the impact of drilling in ANWR. What did you come away with? What’s your feeling having been there?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Ali, I came away with the idea that this is the most perfect place on the planet to drill. It is just 70 miles east of the current energy lifeline that comes down through Alaska. It’s permanently frozen in total darkness three months out of the year, under ice and snow nine months out of the year, and it’s a concentrated area.
Also, it’s important for your listeners to know that this area was specifically set aside by President Jimmy Carter for the purpose of drilling. It’s the size of a postage stamp on a football field. So a very tiny area. And if there’s anything that the North slope of Alaska has proved, it is a 31-year demonstration project of responsible drilling that can coexist very well, environmentally speaking, with habitat and with wildlife.
VELSHI: Representative Pallone, you know the position that Representative Bachmann has. What’s your view on drilling in ANWR? It’s going to give us some amount of oil, definitely, at a time when we seem to be short of oil. Do you think it’s worth it?
REP. FRANK PALLONE (D), NEW JERSEY: It’s not necessary. There’s an area right next to it called the National Petroleum Reserve, which is much bigger, where drilling is allowed. Democrats posted a bill that would say that you could actually lease more area in the National Petroleum Reserve and build a pipeline from there to the continental United States. And the Republicans opposed that. So this is a false debate because, actually, we’d like to drill in the National Petroleum Reserve, and the Republicans essentially blocked the effort to do more there.
VELSHI: Now, Representative Bachmann, we also flew over the National Petroleum Reserve and were talking about that. We saw some oil facilities there. The bottom line is this, many of our views may or may not know, there’s a great deal of drilling that goes on in Alaska. We were at the beginning, the head of the Alaska Pipeline. What do you think about that alternative, drilling in that area that is OK to drill in?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: Well, Ali, the choice isn’t drilling one place or another. What we need to do is all of the above. We need to be drilling in ANWR because it’s the most convenient, quickest place. It’s also the smallest footprint. We could continue to drill in the National Petroleum Reserve, and I would favor that.
The fact is, we would have a larger environmental footprint if we would do that. Whereas we would have a smaller footprint if we would drill in the ANWR area. I believe we should drill in both, as well as offshore. As well as the 2 trillion barrels of oil that are available for oil shell in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, let alone the natural gas, let alone the coal, let alone solar, wind and also the new generation of car batteries.
VELSHI: Fortunately, we’re talking about all of those things.
BACHMANN: We need to do it all, that’s our position.
VELSHI: Oil shale, which is what the president has talked about, is some distance away because of the infrastructure that has to be put on to this. But offshore oil drilling, here’s an interesting one because John McCain is definitely getting some traction on the idea of offshore drilling. We’re seeing more and more people support the idea. And while Barack Obama has said that could be seven or 10 years, John McCain, I think, has shortened that to 10 to 12 months or something he says people tell him. What’s the general opposition, representative, to drilling offshore?
PALLONE: Well, first of all, I should point out that last I heard John McCain was still opposed to drilling in ANWR.
VELSHI: Right. That is correct.
PALLONE: And that’s the position he takes.
I think that what the real answer here is, we have to get away from fossil fuels and dependence on oil and natural gas. And we have to encourage renewables. And I would say that, you know, that should be the focus.
Democrats in Congress have put up bills that basically would say that 20 percent of our energy needs for utilities should be through renewables. We’ve been trying to take the money away, the subsidies away from the oil industry and give it to people, both, you know, homeowners and commercial establishments that would use it for solar power or wind power. We’ve tried to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. Unfortunately, on all these other issues, which are much more comprehensive and with less independence on fossil fuel, in most cases President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have opposed us.
And that’s the problem. The Republicans keep saying drill, drill, drill. That’s not the answer. The answer is to get away from fossil fuel.
VELSHI: This is part of why we brought both of you on because I think you share views on where we need to get more fuel from and what else we need to do. But Representative Bachman and representative Pallone, I think the issue here is that, to the American public, the Democrats and the Republicans are just not coming together on this. And I don’t know whether it’s that none of you will change your positions or you won’t look at it comprehensively.
Representative Bachmann, let me start with you. What is it going to actually take to get you all to come up with a solution? Because I don’t think there’s as much difference in space between you as we may be led to believe.
BACHMANN: I agree. I don’t think there’s a large space between us either. I think what would get us to come together would be to have the speaker of the House call all members of Congress back to Washington, D.C. I’m going back to Washington, D.C. this week to speak on the floor because I believe we should be in D.C. solving this problem rather than at home on vacation.
What we believe as Republicans in the House of Representatives is all of the above. We don’t believe that as members of Congress we should decide which form of energy the American people should use. We think the American people can make that decision in the free marketplace. Let’s just legalize energy production. We’re the only country in the world that make it illegal to access our own energy.
VELSHI: Representative Pallone, what do you think of that suggestion?
PALLONE: Well, the fact of the matter is, that it hasn’t happened. In other words, when we were in session in June and July, the speaker brought up all these bills, you know, to eliminate speculation in the market, to increase production in the National Petroleum Reserve, to take oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to increase renewables and take the subsidy away from the oil companies and give it to renewables. And every time, the Republicans oppose this legislation.
We want…Democrats want a comprehensive approach that also increases drilling, not in these environmentally sensitive areas, but the Republicans have blocked that. So I would hope that when we come back, that we can take this comprehensive approach. But the president has to give in on these other issues, as well. And that is to less reliance on fossil fuel.
VELSHI: Well, you both have a commitment to this. And I think it would be good to take that message back. That the outside observer sort of sees people who are determined to try and make some change here but it’s not getting done. So we thank you both for coming and sharing your views with us. And again, I underscore, I don’t think there’s as much difference between them as we might think.
Representative Bachman, good to see you again. Thank you very much.
Representative Pallone, thank you for being with us.
PALLONE: Thank you.
BACHMANN: Ali, thank you.
I don’t think that saying that “we have to get away from fossil fuels and dependence on oil and natural gas” is the message Democrats want getting out. I don’t doubt that that’s their belief. It’s just that I think they’re trying to downplay their environutter credentials until after this November’s election. They don’t want to be portrayed as the political party that wants to move away from oil and natural gas right now. Instead of hiding the Democrats’ anti-drilling credentials, Rep. Pallone tells everyone that that’s their agenda.
Rep. Pallone also mentioned drilling in NPR-A. That’s rather odd because the NPR-A is within a few miles of a beautiful mountain range. If anything fits the description of pristine wilderness, it’s the NPR-A. ANWR’s Coastal Plain doesn’t fit that descriptio.
Here’s something else that Rep. Pallone said that’s worth examining:
Democrats in Congress have put up bills that basically would say that 20 percent of our energy needs for utilities should be through renewables.
I can’t argue with that. That’s part of the problem. The Democrats’ bills are half-steps. They aren’t serious steps. The Democrats’ bills also prohibited Republicans from offering any amendments. That isn’t open debate. If Democrats thought that they had the superior plan, they’d welcome the GOP’s amendments to show the contrast between the Democrats’ plan and the GOP’s plan.
Democrats didn’t allow that to happen because they’re certain that it’d provide an embarrassing defeat to Speaker Pelosi.
People are struggling to fill their tanks. They know that domestic drilling and increasing production is vital to reigning in inflation and making everything more affordable.
Eventually, we will transition. That day isn’t now. People want to make that transition on their timetable, not because Democrats mandate it with legislation.
People would be wise to not pay attention to Democrats’ claims that they’re pro-drilling. After all, Democrat Pelosi told vulnerable Democratic incumbents to say whatever they needed to say to get re-elected. Rep. Pallone’s statement just re-enforces that.
UPDATE: Here’s the YouTube video of Michele Bachmann’s debate with Frank Pallone on CNN:
Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Michele Bachmann, ANWR, Republicans, Nancy Pelosi, Frank Pallone, NPR-A, Democrats, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog