Posted on 10/16/2009 4:02:31 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
Given that we’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what we’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now.
We rely on petroleum for much more than just powering our vehicles: It is essential in everything from jet fuel to petrochemicals, plastics to fertilizers, pesticides to pharmaceuticals. According to the Energy Information Administration, our total domestic petroleum consumption last year was 19.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Motor gasoline and diesel fuel accounted for less than 13 million bpd of that. Meanwhile, we produced only 4.95 million bpd of domestic crude. In other words, even if we ran all our vehicles on something else (which won’t happen anytime soon), we would still have to depend on imported oil. And we’ll continue that dependence until we develop our own oil resources to their fullest extent.
Those who oppose domestic drilling are motivated primarily by environmental considerations, but many of the countries we’re forced to import from have few if any environmental-protection laws, and those that do exist often go unenforced. In effect, American environmentalists are preventing responsible development here at home while supporting irresponsible development overseas.
My home state of Alaska shows how it’s possible to be both pro-environment and pro-resource-development. Alaskans would never support anything that endangered our pristine air, clean water, and abundant wildlife (which, among other things, provides many of us with our livelihood). The state’s government has made safeguarding resources a priority; when I was governor, for instance, we created a petroleum-systems-integrity office to monitor our oil and gas infrastructure for any potential environmental risks.
Alaska also shows how oil drilling is thoroughly compatible with energy conservation and renewable-energy development. Over 20 percent of Alaska’s electricity currently comes from renewable sources, and as governor I put forward a long-term plan to increase that figure to 50 percent by 2025. Alaska’s comprehensive plan identifies renewable options across the state that can help rural villages transition away from expensive diesel-generated electricity — allowing each community to choose the solution that best fits its needs. That’s important in any energy plan: Tempting as they may be to central planners, top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions are recipes for failure.
Drill PING!
A great article because it relates the nebulous concept of energy independence with the reality of everyday life.
Amazing how "common sense" conservatism ALWAYS succeeds.
She’s running in 2012. Step one is to build credentials as a serous thinker, after having the mainstream media unfairly portray her as a ditz. The speech in Hong Kong, her Washington Post op-ed piece a month or so ago and this NR article are the start of that effort.
Common sense conservatism compared with Zero’s “all Marxism, all the time”? It’s not even a fair contest.
Jack
Liberals like to pretend that we should stop using oil and use solar power instead. Show us a solar-powered dump trunk and then they've got something.
K-Lo can't be very happy about that! (her precious Mitt Romney just can't measure up to Sarahcuda).
Interesting, all NRO needs is an "I" to spell RINO.
Reaganesque.
Read the article at NRO. Simple, direct, and compelling. A laying out of the facts in a clear and direct way that the public can digest. It reads like a campaign document.
She is following in the path laid down by Ronaldus Magnus.
I will bet you she wrote this, btw.
Best,
Chris
Too bad we can't have President Palin in Jan, 2009 (before elections are discontinued to enable prez-for-life obozo to rule forever) to start cleaning up the communist mess...although it may be so bad it will never be cleaned up fully.
Point eloquently made by our next President.
I'm happy to see her still speaking like she was a year ago. Keep it up Sarah. Run baby, run!
actually if you look over at the corner blog k lo seems to be quite disparaging and sarcastic towards palin. It is a real shame what has happened to national review. They still have some good guys like andy mccarthy,but many of them are wimps.
I stopped my subscription to the magazine about 9 months ago after K Lopez and others started looking down on Palin. Big mistake. The magazine is really hurting, too. They constantly call me to re-up my subscription but I tell them to screw. Most of the writers fall into the David Frum wing of the Republican party - RINO.
I always wondered what Buckley thought about NR in recent years.
Great article!!!
Become a Sarah Palin (and Michelle Bachmann) fan on Facebook!
The complete 993 word piece is at the NRO link. It is comprehensive and easy to understand....an outstanding piece.
The woman displays some efficiency.
It is a shame that this is all KJL will allow herself to admit.
Actually, David Frum was writing the NR last page essay after Flo King retired (and before Steyne), but was removed right after he ran a pro-abortion article - got to give them credit for that, anyway.
The fact that he was employed by NR says something about NR. But K Lopez and Ramesh are total elitist RINOs. Byron York left NR, which was not a good thing. Andy McCarthy and Mark Steyn are the only reasons to read anything related to NR.
That said, Sarah now needs to concentrate her energies in great detail on Obamacare and the Baucus Bill which is in real danger of passing very soon. And I don't just mean picking out just one item such as death panels.
Going to take a mighty big plow to rid this country of political trash.
Is that ever the truth... did you hear his speech in CA last night?
and in case anyone doubts what you say is true, look at Honduras and this administrations actions as evidence of where we are heading.
KJL needs to buy a clue, Romney does not inspire people to get off their couch and go door-to-door or even get up and go vote.
Ramesh worships the alter of Romney... and as much as I cannot stand him, I’ll give Romney this, he immediately headed off on a NRO cruise the day after the November 2008 election and spent days smooze them.
NEW ORLEANS, Oct 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is in favor of finding environmentally safe ways to tap U.S. oil and natural gas reserves and would like to see increased use of nuclear-generated electricity.
"What I think we need to do is increase [nationalize] our domestic energy production," Obama said at a public meeting in New Orleans. "I'm in favor of finding [funding] environmentally sound ways [environmentalist] to tap [stop producing] our oil and our natural gas."
Obama also spoke about the need to rely more heavily on nuclear energy as the United States looks for ways to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. "There's no [a] reason why technologically we can't employ nuclear energy[.] in a safe and effective way. Hollywood. Didja ever see "The China Syndrome". Man, that scared the Bejesus out of me!] Japan does it and France does it and it doesn't have greenhouse gas emissions, so it would be stupid for us not to do that [even though we could do it] in a much more effective way," he said.
Obama said it is essential to develop new sources of clean energy and increase energy efficiency. ["We're going to use wind farms to power our commercial aircraft. I don't know why they took the propellers off the airplanes in the first place."] He vowed to pursue energy legislation once the debate over a U.S. healthcare overhaul is resolved. ["And I'm sure it will be as big a success as my healthcare plan"](Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by David Alexander rwrcpa1)
All joking aside, Sarah and Obama are saying essentially the same thing. The difference is, she has a track record of actually doing something about it, and he has no clue what he is talking about and was just pandering to the crowd in an oil producing state. He also doesn't mean it, because his base is adamently opposed to it. Nuclear power, indeed!
Screw National Review. I wish she would have written it for American Thinker.
Romney has been AWOL for the past six months due to his healthcare plan that was passed in Mass. He’s just started poking around on some talk shows now.
Excellent point - there is very little passion with Romney voters. That’s not a good thing if you are going to try to beat Obama.
She needs to speak to those being seduced by the RINO wing.
Strange, I search for Sarah Palin on Face book and she is not there....
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