Whenever I want the clearest picture of the Democrats’ non-energy energy bills, I head straight to the Institute for Energy Research. Wanting to put forward the best explanation on why the bill pushed through by Pelosi’s Democrats, I visited this webpage. I’m glad I found it. Here’s what I found:

The bill permanently bans and development within 50 miles of shore. [Sec. 102]

The vast majority of undiscovered oil and gas reserves are projected to be between the coast and 50 miles offshore.

Here’s another noteworthy point made:

Fails to open new, energy rich areas for exploration and development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. These areas in the Gulf could start producing oil and gas very quickly because they are close to existing infrastructure.

If the Democrats were serious about providing instant price relief, lifting the ban on drilling here should’ve been their highest priority. This proves that providing quick price relief isn’t the Democrats’ highest priority. That begs this question:

If prices at the pump are crippling families’ budgets and high heating bills only 2 months, if that, off, and with high prices at the pump crippling the economy, shouldn’t providing price relief be the Democratic majority’s top priority? Apparently, this legislation is proof that it’s barely a blip on the Democrats’ radar.

The bill “allows oil shale leasing for research, development, or production of oil shale only if states specifically pass a law permitting oil shale leasing within their borders. [Sec. 171] ” That’s the good news. The bad news is in the details:

This is only a half-measure to developing oil shale. Developing oil shale is expensive and requires experimentation to improve oil shale extraction technology. It is currently not necessary to get state approval for experimental projects, but this bill creates additional hurdles for experimental projects—the type of projects necessary to one day utilize this vast resource.

If Democrats want to one day harvest oil shale, why would they put additional hurdles up?

Let’s review what we know at this point. We know that:

• the bill passed by Pelosi’s Democrats doesn’t allow offshore drilling within 50 miles of the coast, where 85% of the biggest oil reserves are;
• the bill doesn’t give states a financial incentive for opting in;
• the bill establishes additional roadblocks to harvest oil shale.

The bill would eliminate the rights of cities and states to set building codes:

Title IV—Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes

This title usurps the authority to set building codes from state and local governments and institutes new national building codes standards in the name of energy efficiency. The likely outcome of this title will be an increase in the cost of new construction and renovation of buildings in the United States.

• Requires states to revise their building codes to comply with certain energy efficiency standards. [Sec. 401]
• Increases energy efficiency standards for building renovations.

Let’s review again what this legislation does. It doesn’t allow offshore drilling within 50 miles of the coast. It doesn’t give states a financial incentive for opting in. It establishes additional roadblocks to harvest oil shale. Potentially, it takes away the rights of states and cities to establish their building codes.

In other words, there’s reason for states to hate this bill just like there’s reasons for local governments to hate this bill.It doesn’t provide price relief for working people or small businesses like OTR truckers and farmers.

Finally, this is a bill only a Washington bureaucrat or an evnironmental extremist could love. That’s why I said this bill is all about providing political cover.

Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Nancy Pelosi, Bureaucrats, Environmental Extremists, OCS, Shale Oil, States Rights, Gulf Of Mexico, Main Street, Price Relief, Hoax, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog