Posted on 07/23/2008 1:14:43 PM PDT by rightwinghour
Much like monetary policy, the energy policy in this country has been absent from the political forefront until recently. For many years, our policy has been self defeating. We somehow managed to bar ourselves from drilling offshore and in places like ANWR, and then we wondered why our dependence on foreign oil was becoming such a problem.
McCain's answer is, of course, to finally open up these areas to drilling, much to the chagrin of the environmentalists. Bush even got in on the deal, trying to score political points for his legacy by allowing offshore drilling. That's all great, but it doesn't help us right now. The only influence this will have is a mental one. There seems to be a consensus that actually producing any oil from these places will take between seven and ten years, which is funny because a lot of us have wanted to drill in these places for around ten years or more. Along with drilling, it seems there's also finally a push to build some refineries, too. Two thumbs up from me, although this should have been done years ago.
Obama's answer to the energy crisis is to not allow drilling in any of these areas and to not build any more refineries. No, biofuels refineries don't count. We need stop with the whole ethanol scam anyway. I'm talking about real crude being turned into real usable gasoline. Obama's answer is to get America to stop her "addiction" on oil, as if oil is a bad thing to use for energy. He wants to focus on energy alternatives, all of which are not cost effective and would put even more strain on an already crumbling economy. So, instead of researching these alternatives while drilling for oil in our own country, he wants to NOT drill for anymore oil and just pour money into developing alternative fuels, while at the same time requiring the auto industry to double mpg ratings within 18 years. Yeah, that kind of R&D doesn't cost anything.
The bottom line is that we've had a problem with our energy policy for many years. We let special interests tell us where we could drill, and the entire country is paying for it. Obama's plans will cripple the economy even more, while McCain's will at least help us in the long run.
I know I’m talking through my hat here, but a republican politician could really make some hay for himself AND do some good by launching a massive investigation of the links between Big Green, the Permanent Bureaucracy (”revolving door” etc.) and Capitol Hill. Turning over that rock could expose some fascinating critters to the light.
“Special Interests” indeed. We have let The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, etc., dictate to our government for far too long and it’s going to require their their permanent discredit and the jailing of some of their poohbas to break their power over us.
I recall an expose series (in the NYT, no less! several years ago that exposed how the Nature Conservancy worked hand-in-glove with local and state officials to pick up land for a song (after making it all but worthless through targeted enviro regulations) and then resell it to developers for big bucks. Somehow, that failed to make much noise.
I still recall a FORBES article in the nineties about Carole Browner’s little operation at EPA (Clinton’s appointee) and how she ran the agency hand-in-glove with the Green groups. Her favorite technique was to “lose” lawsuits filed by the usual suspects over various issues under her purview with a wink-and-a-grin.
I’m quite certain that the vast majority of those ACLU lawsuits against various communities and school systems are surreptitiously invited by leftist officials and administrators who then put up token resistance or settle outright.
Go back and read some of Bush’s earlier speeches including State of the Union speeches and you will see where he started out calling for energy independence and alternative strategies.
Yeah, but he just now opened up the offshore sites for drilling. Speeches are fine, but things have to actually be done.
Ya know, you really don’t hear about Big Green, but you always hear about Big Tobacco, Big Gun, Big Business, etc. The wackos have it made...
This is what the Democrats are doing.
All of that puts the U.S. in a position that war for oil or
complete economic collapse are our only choices.
You can't frustrate every source of domestic energy
without consequences. Our enemies will blackmail us
to the extent that we are vulnerable to blackmail.
Are the Democrats trying to force us into a real war for oil?
The President had no political capital to use an EO to open up drilling before. Now he has strong public opinion on his side and his EO has some leverage to force Congress to act. If Congress doesn’t act his EO is meaningless.
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