Pelosi’s Stealth Energy Embargo
At midnight of October 1, the ban on oil exploration and production could come to an end. It would also mean that the federal government would shut down temporarily. In the meantime, Speaker Pelosi is trying to pass a continuing resolution that includes an extension of the various moratoria. Here’s the statement from the Institute for Energy Research:
Having failed to pass the required measures to fund the government for the next fiscal year, Congress must now pass what is known as a Continuing Resolution (CR) in order to avoid a government shutdown. A draft of the resolution contains a provision taken from the recently passed House bill, H.R. 6899, to continue the ban on energy exploration and production on nearly all of the taxpayer owned Outer Continental Shelf in the lower 48 states for another year. At present, the ban is set to expire at the end of September. Dan Kish, Senior Vice President for Policy at IER issued the following statement:
“In 9 days the long-outdated ban on energy exploration on the energy rich, taxpayer-owned Outer Continental Shelf will come to an end. But like a thief in the night, it appears our government is attempting to sneak a new energy ban into a must-pass spending measure, thus continuing the decades-old, government-imposed American energy embargo.”
“This move makes it clear that our government would prefer to stick it to Main Street as they bail out Wall Street. With continued record gasoline prices and high home heating bills right around the corner, American families are calling for increased domestic energy exploration and production, not less. Letting the OCS ban expire, as scheduled, is an important component of a sound national energy policy and adheres to the well-known precept of first do no harm. Extending the ban fails that test.”
The language from the draft CR is as follows:
FEDERAL OIL AND GAS LEASING; INTERIOR:
SEC. 152. Notwithstanding section 101, the terms and conditions for Federal oil and gas leasing set out in title I of the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 6899), as passed by the House of Representatives on September 16, 2008, shall apply in lieu of the terms and conditions in sections 104, 105, and 433 of division F of Public Law 110–161.
Speaker Pelosi has made it clear through her actions that she isn’t interested in increasing oil production. Quite the contrary. She’s doing everything possible to “save the planet” while letting working people suffer through high gas prices in the summer and step heating bills in the winter.
In 2004, John Kerry talked about how Bush administration policies had created a middle class squeeze. The accusations weren’t true but that’s what his mantra was. Compared to those economic conditions, you’d have to say that the conditions we’re facing now aren’t just a squeeze; they’re a choke hold that’s choking the life out of our economy.
There’s only one group that can justifiably be blamed for this oil crisis. That’s the Democrats. They passed a bill in 2007 that they said would make us less dependent on foreign oil. It failed so miserably that they returned to the issue eight months later. That’s when Ms. Pelosi started acting like a dictator, not allowing Republican amendments to any of the Democrats’ bills.
It isn’t coincidence that prices started rising quickly after the bill passed in 2007. I think they’re a direct result of the bill. Passing that bill told commodity markets that the United States would be putting itself at the mercy of OPEC rather than bringing our supplies online.
The national average of a gallon of gasoline was $2.46 on Election Day, 2006. Eighteen months later, that national average had risen to $4.10 a gallon. According to my trusty calculator, that’s a 67% jump.
My dad always taught my brother and I that “Stupidity is was gets people in trouble. Pride is what keeps them there.” I’ve always tried living life with one eye on that tenet. That’s why I’m laughing at Ms. Pelosi’s subsequent attempts to distract people’s attention away from their initial stupid decision.
Instead of admitting that they’d made a stupid decision, they ‘doubled down’ on their initial mistake. They’re still sticking with the tenets that put us in this mess. They’re still pushing legislation that limits domestic production of energy. They’re still talking about alternatives being the only solution. What they won’t admit, though, is that the alternatives that they’re talking about are years away from the marketplace.
It’s time for a good Housecleaning, similar to the one that happened in 1994. A vote for a Democrat is a vote to retain Ms. Pelosi as the person setting the energy agenda. That’s something we can’t afford.
Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Continuing Resolution, OCS, Nancy Pelosi, Institute for Energy Research, Drilling, ANWR, Economy, Job Growth, Embargo, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog