California Conservative

Democrats must be feeling the heat on the gas issue because they’re telling some whoppers. This statement from Majority Leader Hoyer is a perfect example of their inattentiveness to the truth. Here’s Hoyer’s quote:

“This week, Republicans are doing nothing but pushing the failed Johnny-one-note policies of the past.”

This isn’t even debatable. It’s a blatant lie. Look at the provisions in the American Energy Act:

To improve energy conservation and efficiency, the legislation will:

• Provide tax incentives for businesses and families that purchase more fuel efficient vehicles, as proposed in H.R. 1618 and H.R. 765 by Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Jerry Weller (R-IL);
• Provide a monetary prize for developing the first economically feasible, super-fuel-efficient vehicle reaching 100 miles-per-gallon, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT); and
• Provide tax incentives for businesses and homeowners who improve their energy efficiency, as proposed in H.R. 5984 by Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Phil English (R-PA), and Zach Wamp (R-TN), and in H.R. 778 by Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL).

Here’s another set of provisions from the bill:

To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:

• Spur the development of alternative fuels through government contracting by repealing the “Section 526” prohibition on government purchasing of alternative energy and promoting coal-to-liquids technology, as proposed in H.R. 5656 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), in H.R. 6384 by Rob Bishop (R-UT), and in H.R. 2208 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL);
• Establish a renewable energy trust fund using revenues generated by exploration in the deep ocean and on the Arctic coastal plain, as proposed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA);
• Permanently extend the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen, as proposed in H.R. 2652 by Rep. Phil English (R-PA) and in H.R. 5984 by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD); and
• Eliminate barriers to the expansion of emission-free nuclear power production, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT).

That’s an awfully comprehensive energy bill. It’s a more comprehensive bill than the Democrats have brought to the floor. Democrats say that they’re for drilling, which is technically true. It’s what they aren’t for that says what they really believe.

Let’s also stipulate that when there’s an oil shortage, then focusing on drilling is the right solution. Truckers and farmers can’t wait for hybrids to hit the market. They need petro ASAP. Short of waving a magic wand, there’s no other way to provide it than through drilling. In other words, Hoyer is paying Republicans a compliment by sayign they focused on solving the problem.

There isn’t any justification for keeping any part of the OCS offlimits now that oil and natural gas are this expensive. Still, Democrats insist on drilling only in areas that are already open to drilling. What good will that do? How much oil lies there? Does anyone think that it’s the equivalent of what’s waiting on the OCS? Or in the shale oil region of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado? Is there more untapped oil in the lands already open for leasing than there is in ANWR?

Questions to Democrats: Isn’t it smart to explore where the biggest deposits are? It seems to me that that’s the most efficient way of increasing oil supplies. If Democrats are serious about drilling, why won’t they do it in such a mannner as to actually provide relief? It’s possible that they want to drill a little bit, have prices stay high, then say that they tried drilling but it didn’t provide relief.

Republicans want to fix this crisis. Democrats like Hoyer just want to run out the clock on the 110th Congress without doing anything. If that means lying about the Republicans’ plan, then that’s what they’ll do.

Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Steny Hoyer, American Energy Act, Drilling, OCS, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 10:48 pm and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Election 2008, Energy, Liberals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.