Democrats Still Aren't Serious About Drilling
Posted by: Aaron Park | 09/19/2008 11:55 PM
Blogger's Note - Will
Charlie Brown Stand Up and Denounce Nancy Pelosi's Fraud and the raft
of Environmental Lawsuits aimed at stopping drilling?
Now
is the time to man up Charlie? you were endorsed by the Sierra Club -
are you going to follow them to court to thwart energy production?
Take a look at this report about enviro lawsuits to stop drilling - note how the Dems are ignoring the fact that these have occurred. The Enviros have sued to stop EVERY
new lease in the last two years. This really underscores that Nancy
Pelosi is a bald-faced liar with the use-it-or-lose-it policy, she
knows there is nothing to lose because it is tied up in court!
By JOHN SHADEGG
After a five-week paid vacation, Democrats are back in Washington and claiming that they want to do something about oil prices.
But
the problem is that their plan, which passed the House yesterday and
will likely come up for a vote in the Senate later this week, will not
produce a single drop of oil.
Why? Because it does nothing about environmental groups that are suing to stop drilling.
The
Democratic proposal is not a death-bed conversion, it's designed to
solve their political problem. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her
members in August that they can say they are in favor of drilling, but
that she wouldn't allow a vote on a drilling bill. Now that she has
been forced to, she knows her environmental allies will block new
drilling from going forward.
The Sierra Club has told its members
that it is "working to ensure that the final bill's focus is on real
clean energy solutions rather than expanded offshore drilling."
Democratic Rep. John Murtha, a Pelosi confidante, went further last
week in noting that his party's not above cynical politics: "This is a
political month. There's all kinds of things we try to do that will
just go away after we leave." And Legislative Director for the Natural
Resources Defense Council Karen Wayland has said "This is about
politics, not necessarily about policy."
The green lobby,
however, is not going away. EarthJustice, which employs over 150
people, has filed hundreds of lawsuits. On its Web site, it says
"Because lawsuits can be so effective, we have a team of policy experts
in Washington, D.C. that work hand-in-hand with our attorneys to stop
legislative backlash . . ."
Indeed, incessant legal and
administrative challenges make true the Democrat claim that oil from
newly opened areas will not reach the market for years. These groups
make use of a wide range of laws and regulations to challenge
development. And they will make sure that the Democrats' proposal is
meaningless.
In February 2008, the administration issued 487
leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, which holds an estimated 15 billion
barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The Sierra
Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other groups used the
National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act to
challenge and delay progress on all 487 leases. In a separate lawsuit,
they challenged the entire national outer continental shelf (OCS)
leasing program, seeking to block all future leases.
Even if a
lease makes it through these challenges, it isn't clear sailing. Right
now, there are 748 leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Exploration
activities in every single one were challenged in May of this year by
EarthJustice in conjunction with others.
The Alaskan OCS contains 26 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Not one offshore lease has escaped litigation.
And
it's not just Alaska. Wild Earth Guardians and others recently filed
suit to block energy exploration on all leases in recent sales in
Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Last year, almost 50% of gas
leases in the Rocky Mountain states were protested in court.
Environmental protections are necessary. But, there must be reasonable limits on litigation.
During
the oil embargo in 1973, Congress waived environmental laws for the
construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. That waiver, Democratic Sen.
John Tunney of California said at the time, "in no way dilutes or
diminishes the applicability of NEPA
[National Environmental Policy Act]." Rather, he said, it "brings into
balance grave concerns of national security" with our nation's
environmental safeguards. In 1996 and again in 2006, environmental laws
were waived for the construction of fences along the southern border of
the United States.
Absent provisions to stop abusive litigation,
the bills Democrats support will not lead to oil production. Any
serious energy plan would encourage the development of alternative and
renewable fuels, and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the OCS
and the Western U.S. to drilling. It also would put a stop to
never-ending litigation. But that's not what Democratic leaders are
offering.
We're told that the Democrats now favor drilling. That
they have seen the light after feeling the heat all summer. What's
really happening is we're mid-way through a political hoax.
Some
70% of Americans favor increased domestic drilling. Unfortunately, if
Mrs. Pelosi and her party's leaders continue to play politics, we can
be sure Americans won't get the energy they want.
Mr. Shadegg, a Republican, is a U.S. congressman from Arizona.
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Instead of this political diatribe, can you please post information that indicates what offshore drilling will really do to help our nation?
It is probable that domestic offshore drilling will do NOTHING to improve America's energy situation.
If drilling takes place, the oil produced will not be enough to have an effect on world oil prices. OPEC and world markets still control the price, and prices will remain high. How does this help?
So why keep harping on oil? Is it just to please those silly people at the Republican convention yelling "drill, baby drill"? Or worse yet -- is it just to make sure profits keep flowing into oil company pockets? Why do this?
Isabel,
Why???
Seems to me, the last time I checked we have an oil based economy and lifestyle!
A bit of history might be in order: By in the 50's & 60's when even I was young, folks like Bob kept telling us that the sky was falling because we were basing our economy and lifestyles on a product that was VERY limited. Popular books like "The Population Bomb" predicted that we would be out of oil by the turn of the century. Please reread that last sentence, because this is the lie that was told and it had a dire impact on our country.
Like the global warming debate today, they pounded and pounded with a willing media going along until everyone just sort of believed that it is was true. Of course it wasn't because not only have we NOT run out of oil, but we have more KNOWN reserves today than they knew about back then.
HOWEVER, this propaganda had a very sad impact in the public policy arena. The "smart" people sat around and said, SINCE we have a very limited amount of oil, it is very important that we be the last to run out. So we limited our own development and sought to exploit other areas like the middle east and South America to "use up" all of their oil first!
Now please understand, that IF what had been predicted had been true, it was a VERY SMART policy because the world would have become a very ugly place as the oil fields ran dry and it would have been very good for America IF the final oil pumped had come from our fields. The ONLY problem is that this propaganda was NOT true, not even close to being true.
That brings us to the sad situation of today where now we know there is about a trillion barrels of recoverable oil here in America but we are sending $700 billion or so every year to folks who really don't like us! We are in this mess because for 40 years we have refused to develop our resources so we would use up the oil from everyone else!
So, yes, we should develop our off-shore resources, we should develop our shale resources and Sarah will certainly help us develop our north slope resources. IF the congress, the environmentalists and folks like Bob & Charlie would get out of the way, we could produce all the oil we use inside of ten years. THAT would produce American jobs and be good for the American economy!
I for one, think that is a good idea, and in the process we not only will NOT use up all the oil we have, but rather, we are more likely to discover that there is even more of the stuff than we thought just as we have for the past hundred years. Maybe then we could even get some of the new diesel engine Fords that are cleaner than most modern cars and get something like 65 miles to the gallon!
So Isabel, when you hear "drill baby drill" again at least you will know that it is much more than a political slogan!
John
Isabel,
Why???
Seems to me, the last time I checked we have an oil based economy and lifestyle!
A bit of history might be in order: By in the 50's & 60's when even I was young, folks like Bob kept telling us that the sky was falling because we were basing our economy and lifestyles on a product that was VERY limited. Popular books like "The Population Bomb" predicted that we would be out of oil by the turn of the century. Please reread that last sentence, because this is the lie that was told and it had a dire impact on our country.
Like the global warming debate today, they pounded and pounded with a willing media going along until everyone just sort of believed that it is was true. Of course it wasn't because not only have we NOT run out of oil, but we have more KNOWN reserves today than they knew about back then.
HOWEVER, this propaganda had a very sad impact in the public policy arena. The "smart" people sat around and said, SINCE we have a very limited amount of oil, it is very important that we be the last to run out. So we limited our own development and sought to exploit other areas like the middle east and South America to "use up" all of their oil first!
Now please understand, that IF what had been predicted had been true, it was a VERY SMART policy because the world would have become a very ugly place as the oil fields ran dry and it would have been very good for America IF the final oil pumped had come from our fields. The ONLY problem is that this propaganda was NOT true, not even close to being true.
That brings us to the sad situation of today where now we know there is about a trillion barrels of recoverable oil here in America but we are sending $700 billion or so every year to folks who really don't like us! We are in this mess because for 40 years we have refused to develop our resources so we would use up the oil from everyone else!
So, yes, we should develop our off-shore resources, we should develop our shale resources and Sarah will certainly help us develop our north slope resources. IF the congress, the environmentalists and folks like Bob & Charlie would get out of the way, we could produce all the oil we use inside of ten years. THAT would produce American jobs and be good for the American economy!
I for one, think that is a good idea, and in the process we not only will NOT use up all the oil we have, but rather, we are more likely to discover that there is even more of the stuff than we thought just as we have for the past hundred years. Maybe then we could even get some of the new diesel engine Fords that are cleaner than most modern cars and get something like 65 miles to the gallon!
So Isabel, when you hear "drill baby drill" again at least you will know that it is much more than a political slogan!
John
Isabel - Did you click the link to see the 700+ lawsuits brought by environmental groups. Note that the premise of each lawsuit is different.
What does this suggest? They don't care the reason, their goal is to stop drilling. Given that these same people sue to stop Solar and Wind plants, then you could draw the conclusion that their motives are to prevent the sputtering American economy from growing.
Your comment belies a lack of knowledge of commodities markets and a simplistic view of energy production.
I'd invite you to search the archives on this blog, they are replete with information about oil reserves and energy.