Cruz: use ‘energy renaissance’ to pay down national debt

Daily Caller ^ | 5:00 PM 02/10/2014 | Michael Bastasch

[SoConPubbie]

The United States is in the midst of an “energy renaissance” that can be harnessed to help pay down the $17 trillion national debt, says Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cruz spoke at the conservative Heritage Foundation on Monday to outline his plan to boost jobs and the economy through expanded energy production. Cruz’s American Energy Renaissance Act aims to boost U.S. energy production by cutting down on government regulation, opening up federal lands for oil and natural gas operations and boosting energy exports. The bill also dedicates additional revenues raised from increased energy production to paying down the national debt.

“What we’re doing to our kids and grandkids is wrong,” Cruz said at an event hosted by Heritage Action, the Heritage Foundation’s political arm. He added that tying such revenues to paying down the national debt would increase the “political price” for Congress to use the funds for pet projects.

“Economic growth, the energy revolution, didn’t come from the U.S. Department of Energy,” Cruz said. “It came from entrepreneurs, putting capital at risk and meeting a need.”

Republicans have been criticizing the Obama administration for promoting green energy and blocking oil and gas drilling on federal lands — and in offshore areas — in the midst of an energy boom. Oil and gas production on state and private lands while production has fallen on federal lands.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling have allowed drilling companies to extract oil and natural gas from shale formations deep underground. Environmentalists argue that fracking contaminates groundwater — though this has not yet been proven.

“There is no reason for the federal government to get in the way of fracking,” Cruz said.

Cruz’s bill would block the Obama administration from regulating fracking on federal lands and would streamline permitting for building new refining capacity and for pipelines. The bill would also approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

“If you are a birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging, Greenpeace activist, you should love the Keystone pipeline,” the senator quipped, arguing that a pipeline is more eco-friendly than oil tankers.

The American Energy Renaissance Act would also stop Environmental Protection Agency rules that target the coal industry and force congress to vote on any EPA regulation that would cost the economy jobs.

[SoConPubbie]

"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton "We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn’t make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan "A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

[Biggirl]

Good idea.

[drypowder]

anything that helps the US, King obozo won't allow it

[henkster]

I’d rather use the energy renaissance to fuel real growth in American industry and get AMERICAN CITIZENS back to work.

It’s a radical idea, I know, but I could see some dividends from it.

[writer33]

Cruz’s bill would block the Obama administration from regulating fracking on federal lands and would streamline permitting for building new refining capacity and for pipelines. The bill would also approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

Good idea there, but can you get enough votes to get it passed. Maybe in an election year.

[taxcontrol]

The first rule of paying down the national debt is STOP SPENDING. Not something that can be done with the current crop of legislatures. We need to replace the Dems with GOPs and and the same time, replace the GOPe with conservatives.

Then we can stop the spending and start paying off the debt.

[Yo-Yo]

First step to paying down the national debt is to end annual budget deficits.

[SuziQ]

That can only happen if Congress doesn’t increase spending!

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz Ping!

If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.

Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!

[tomkat]

What we’re doing to our kids and grandkids is  wrong   a damnable abømination

Tho you're definitely on the right track, cut the milquetoast-speak, Ted.

/.02

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Excellent idea !

[stanne]

Ted Cruz talked for 27 hours about stopping the debt ceiling from increasing and telling congress to defund further spending

Don’t say you missed it

He told the republican congress he didn’t trust them to stop spending

Cruz is giving an illustration of the problem and how to fix it.

Anyone who doesn’t get that is as cowardly passive aggressive as that awful jay leno

[cripplecreek]

The idiots opposing opening Michigan up to competition are running ads claiming that deregulation was a disaster for Texas. The ad claims there were blackouts, energy cutoffs, and sky rocketing prices.

The reason for the tantrum is that my state rep and others are pushing a bill that would raise the 10% limit on competition from other electricity providers to 25%.

[okie01]

I’d rather use the energy renaissance to fuel real growth in American industry and get AMERICAN CITIZENS back to work.

May I ask why you seem to think it won't do exactly that?

Drilling wells, building pipelines, constructing refineries -- won't all those things "fuel real growth in American industy"? And get "AMERICAN CITIZENS" back to work?

[Whenifhow]

Here is his speech from today at the Heritage foundation
35 Minutes
Sen. Ted Cruz at 2014 Conservative Policy Summit: An American Energy Renaissance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPESfUrWQ9U

[vigilante2]

bttt

[Wuli]

our own domestic marketplace regarding the use of energy resources is not a “free market” but one highly rigged by politics, and while it will take in a lot of the additional energy production, it will wind up exporting almost as much as it is allowed to use domestically, so not all domestic energy use will be getting the full measure of all the additional energy production, even though it likely could if our energy markets were not as rigged as they are by politics

[ROCKLOBSTER]

The United States is in the midst of an “energy renaissance” that can be harnessed to help pay down the $17 trillion national debt

Coupled with regular planned government shutdowns...(real ones, not a charade like the last one) followed by several sessions of Congress doing nothing but repealing laws and shutting down departments.

[SoConPubbie]

The reason for the tantrum is that my state rep and others are pushing a bill that would raise the 10% limit on competition from other electricity providers to 25%.

Awwww, Marxists.

Is there a dumber group of people on earth today?

[cripplecreek]

Here's the ad.

Citizens for Energizing Michigan's Economy, "Bronco"

In Michigan we have two electric providers (Consumers and DTE) who are in a "competitive" partnership where they divvy up the state and do as they please. Years ago they got a cap on outside competition at 10% of the market share which made it unprofitable for outsiders to try. My state rep is seeking to raise the cap to 25% so Consumers and DTE are trying to portray themselves as innocent victims and scare people.