Free Republic

Next time you step on a glob of tar on a beach in Santa Barbara County, you can thank the oil companies that it isn't a bigger glob.

NOTWITHSTANDING a shift by big business to become more socially responsible, Big Oil prides itself in being an island of bullheadedness and smugness. In a capitalist system, rewards of success go to shareholders. But Big Oil has virtually ignored an equally important constituency - the citizens of the United States - who have granted Big Oil the right to extract the nation's most strategic natural resources. In return, they expect them to act as responsible fiduciaries. ... Read the rest of this drivel at the link...

John McCain couldn’t convince Congress to adopt his gas-tax holiday, but Congress does plan on making some changes to the rate. Unfortunately, the change will go in the opposite direction, if Democrats get their wish. With Americans driving less, the highway fund faces even more severe shortfalls than expected from lost gas-tax revenue — and so the Democrats plan to hike it up by ten cents a gallon.

Old Glory Radio's children programming host, Uncle Abdul, along with ever present companion…The “Little Shiek”, (Uncle Abdul’s Madrassa) protested on the city streets of Eureka Ca in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse today.

Congressional Democrats want the United States to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help bring down oil prices, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said Saturday. Murray said during the Democrats' weekly radio address that with gasoline prices reaching new highs, it is time to use the emergency reserves and urge oil companies to drill on leased federal lands. We believe it's time for the oil companies to use that land and to make sure that it stays in America instead of shipping it to the highest bidder overseas, Murray said. Democrats also think it is time to tap into the...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJuly 19, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This is a challenging time for families across our nation. I know many families are worried about rising prices at the pump and declining home values. So this week my Administration took steps to help address both these challenges. To help address the pressure on gasoline prices, my Administration took action to clear the way for environmentally responsible offshore exploration of key parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that these areas of the OCS could...

WASHINGTON — A plan to lift the ban on coastal drilling is stalled on Capitol Hill, for one simple reason: A Californian who opposes President Bush's proposal is calling the shots in the House of Representatives. Despite growing public support for ending the ban, even in California, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won't allow a vote. "I have no plans to do so," Pelosi said Thursday. It's an example of the vast power placed in the office of the speaker, who sets the agenda for the 435-member House. Members can force a vote if enough of them sign...

Drivers could see gasoline prices below $4 by Labor Day, and even a nickel decline within days, after oil prices fell again Friday. In the last four days, oil prices have dropped more than $16 a barrel, as the market looked optimistically at calm weather, U.S.-Iran negotiations, failing bank rescues and lower demand for gasoline. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at $128.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A week before, it hit its trading record of more than $147. "Perhaps by Labor Day we could see gasoline prices back below...

Despite the pessimistic headlines on energy, a beneficial long-term trend is underway called decarbonization. In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, writer James Howard Kunstler declared that when peak oil hits, “We will have to downscale every activity of everyday life, from farming, to schooling, to retail trade….Epidemic disease and faltering agriculture will synergize with energy scarcities to send nations reeling.” Nobel Prize winner Al Gore has said that global warming will likely result in “a string of terrible catastrophes.” And in his Academy Award–winning movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” he implies that...

Shortly after I became a daily visitor to the internet, I discovered Steven Den Beste.  To this day, I stand in awe of his intelligence.  Steven was one of the most widely read writers, at that time, blogging prolifically on science, politics, warfare, engineering and anything else that crossed his mind.  A phenomenally analytic and literate mind possessing the ability to reduce the complex to the simple and expose the complexities of apparently simple subjects. Den Beste impressed a wide variety of people and drew enormous attention to his website, USS Clueless.  As one would expect, he also drew the ire and contempt...

Former Vice President Al Gore urged Congress not to overturn a federal ban on offshore drilling and complained that lawmakers are "being stampeded by lobbyists for special interests" eager to lift the moratorium. In a speech and interview, Mr. Gore called for moving the U.S. toward "zero-carbon" electricity over a decade, and reiterated his support for a carbon tax accompanied by a "sharp reduction" in payroll taxes. "We have to switch from carbon-intensive fuels to renewable energy," Mr. Gore said. Although some recent opinion polls have found evidence of a shift in public opinion toward favoring more domestic drilling as...

In the 1950s, the word "socialism" was as vulgar as the four-letter words, which, when uttered by a youngster, could result in a mouthful of soap. Not so today. Perhaps contemporary acceptance of the term is the result of tolerance lessons, or political correctness that permeates progressive thought today. It could be ignorance; schools no longer teach the flaws of socialism. Or, what's even worse, today's acceptance of the term is more likely to be acceptance of the system. When Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., blurted out in a congressional hearing that she was ready to "socialize" the oil industry, it...

The House for a second time defeated a Democratic bill to require energy companies to explore their existing oil and gas leases or lose them. The “use-it-or-lose-it” bill (HR 6515) was the Democratic leadership’s response to a drumbeat of Republican calls for legislation to open up new public lands and offshore areas to oil and gas drilling. It was a retread of a measure (HR 6251) that Democrats rushed to the floor ahead of the July 4 recess under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds vote for passage. The 223-195 vote on that bill June 26...

Speaker Pelosi in R.I.: ‘Things can be different’01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 19, 2008 By Felice J. Freyer Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE –– Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House, appeared before a cheering crowd of nearly 100 people in a steamy union hall yesterday to denounce the “record of failure” of the Bush administration and promise a better America under Barack Obama. “We absolutely must win,” she said, urging everyone to work for the election of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Pelosi said she was “counting every minute of every hour of every day” until President Bush leaves...

Energy: A day after House Democrats pretend to be in favor of drilling, Sen. Diane Feinstein calls offshore drilling a "distraction." Mark Sept. 30 on your calendar. It's the day Democrats have to put up or shut up.When President Bush lifted the executive order banning exploration and drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf, two things happened almost immediately: The world price for oil started to drop and the Democrats panicked. They could no longer hide under the umbrella the order provided. On Sept. 30, when the Interior Department's 2008 appropriations expire, the Democrats will have to reauthorize the congressional ban...

TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran's Air Force chief announced that the Islamic Republic has successfully launched the production line of radar-evading "stealth" fighter jets. Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani was quoted by press tv as saying Tuesday that the new jets would significantly enhance the Air Force's combat and defensive capabilities. Iran has recently started manufacturing superior "Quick Reaction" tanks to increase its defense self-sufficiency. Iran has also developed an electro-optical surveillance system that acts as a viable alternative when radars fail to cover a particular range. "We have upgraded our air force fleet, radar-systems, and missile systems over the past few...

Plenty of evidence has existed before, but now the conclusion is inescapable: the Democrats cannot understand the most basic law of economics, the law of supply and demand. Faced with spiraling fuel costs and a demand to act, the Democrat-controlled Congress cannot or will not act. Nancy Pelosi claims the idea to drill in protected coastal areas is a “hoax” and is “echoing the demands of big oil.” Ms. Pelosi, whose husband’s company has received millions of dollars worth of government contracts directly as a result of her efforts, states a plan to release the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to consumers,...

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wants people to know that Democrats like oil drilling. A lot. They're just very picky about where. "Democrats are saying let's drill. Let's explore. Let's get energy for Americans from America and have it for Americans," Hoyer told reporters Tuesday. He was announcing that Democrats will unveil an energy production bill Thursday. Asked a minute later if the proposed bill would allow new offshore drilling, Hoyer told IBD no. ... "We want oil and gas companies to drill on the leases they've been given," Reid said.

One day Americans are moaning about the harmful impact of cheap oil and the next they're grousing about the harmful impact of expensive oil. Which one is it? As a disreputable sort, I freely confess to having a fondness for oil. Actually, I have a mild crush on all carbon-emitting fuels that feed our prosperity. But I'm especially fond of cheap oil. For many years, those who spread apocalyptic global-warming scenarios have warned me that a collective national sacrifice was needed to save the world. One option, we were told, was to make gas artificially expensive, forcing our ignorant, energy-gobbling...

A Trip Down Memory Lane Red Planet CartoonsRemember what President Bush was saying back in 2001? Think back seven years to when Bush delivered the same message THEN that Americans are demanding NOW of Congress: "Drill, Drill, Drill"? He was ridiculed and called a greedy oilman by the same cheerleaders who now run interference for Barack Obama and congressional Democrats: the mainstream press. Red Planet Cartoons has done an invaluable service, both in producing the cartoon above AND reproducing the quote below from a 2001 Time article on energy policy. In May, convinced the nation was terrified of going California...

PDOP Guest Post: ...Tom Daschle said, on June 22nd, on Fox News Sunday that we would have no oil until 2030. Is he is actually stating that it would take 22 years to find oil and drill for it? Just last week I was hearing ten years to bring oil to the pumps as gasoline....These sides all seem to feel that energy from renewable or from depleting resources is an all or nothing proposition.Here are some basics to consider to ease the frustration:

Dick Morris can be slimy and smarmy, but he’s smart. This week he put his finger on an issue that Democrats need to think hard about: offshore – or, as the Republicans call it – “deep-sea” drilling for oil. Clearly the Republicans have drilled down on this issue with some heavy-duty polling. Almost simultaneously, John McCain, Elizabeth Dole, Richard Burr and Pat McCrory came out for drilling to find more oil. Democrats – Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Kay Hagan and Bev Perdue – reflexively opposed the plan. They note, accurately, that drilling now will not produce oil for years to...

The phrase, “Let them eat cake,” is often attributed to Marie Antoinette, but some believe that Jean-Jacques Rousseau also used the phrase when writing about a French Aristocrat insensitive towards peasants who could not afford bread at the time. Whoever quoted the line is for history to figure out, but it would seem that this is the same bit of advice that Americans are getting from Congressional Democrats daily. While Americans struggle daily with the high price of gasoline and demand that Congressional Leaders and the President do something long lasting to address the problem in poll after poll. Congressional...

Oilman T. Boone Pickens: Dems' new best friend Time to roll out the odd bedfellows clichés. T. Boone Pickens, an oil baron, Bush "Pioneer" and major contributor to the 2004 Swift Boat ads, is speaking before the House Democratic Caucus next Tuesday. At the invitation of Nancy Pelosi. This announcement comes a day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) talked about how Pickens was his "mortal enemy" for years due to his support for Republicans. Yet Reid says Pickens is "now his pal" after sitting next to him at a Senate energy hearing this week. So what's this all...

Under President Obama, a Democrat Congress will raise taxes, increase spending, increase regulation, abandon Iraq, while also winning the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban wherever they may be, except in Iraq. It will refuse to drill for oil or build nukes, while pumping billions of your tax dollars into dead-end dreams of energy independence via biofuel. The most efficient biofuel source on the horizon is fuel from Algae, which one development company states can produce up to 20,000 gallons per acre per year. If this is true, it will take 78 square miles to produce enough Algae fuel...

One day Americans are moaning about the harmful impact of cheap oil and the next they're grousing about the harmful impact of expensive oil. Which one is it? As a disreputable sort, I freely confess to having a fondness for oil. Actually, I have a mild crush on all carbon-emitting fuels that feed our prosperity. But I'm especially fond of cheap oil. For many years, those who spread apocalyptic global-warming scenarios have warned me that a collective national sacrifice was needed to save the world. One option, we were told, was to make gas artificially expensive, forcing our ignorant, energy-gobbling...

I heard The Great One, Mark Levin say on his radio show one day that he wished there was a way that we could put something at the gas pumps to let people know who’s to blame for the high gas prices.I think I also heard him say that he wished there was a way we could put Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama’s pictures on the gas pumps so when people filled up they’d see the faces of the people responsible for the high prices.After hearing this, I got an idea.So I payed a visit to my local...

(The Politico) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't even up for re-election, but conservatives believe they've found a target for their ire over the energy debate. The American Future Fund, which describes itself as a promoter of free market conservative ideals, has created a fairly rudimentary advertisement that mocks Reid's recent comments that "oil makes us sick" _ comments that shot Reid to the top of YouTube for a day.

“This is our ethanol”So an exasperated Sen. Barbara Boxer screams that the farm-belt senators better support her regional selfishness in opposing California off-shore drilling against the national interest, in the same manner she went along with the ethanol boondoggle. Odd that she was so brazen in her confessional.Jackson’s N-wordI give some credit to Barack Obama. His ‘hope and change’ mantra drives some to near madness and has proved a wrecking ball of liberal careers. First, in 90 days he destroyed the Clinton political machine, leaving Bill’s past 7-year effort at PC rehabilitation, after Monica and the pardons, in shambles. Now...

On Wednesday we initiated a Drill Now Email Initiative designed to work in conjunction with the Drill Here, Drill Now Petition. The effort is to force a handful of Democratic Congressional Leaders, along with some Republicans, to stop their attempts to block the "Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008" a bill that would remove the moratorium on offshore drilling, remove the moratorium placed on Oil Shale Exploration by congress last year, Offers incentives and investment in electric vehicle and alternative energy development, and increases funding and oversight provisions within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the group that monitors commodities activities...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday threatened to veto legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives that would force oil companies to give up undrilled federal leases and ban the export of crude drilled in Alaska...

NEW YORK — Oil prices rebounded modestly Friday as news of an output cut in Nigeria helped to halt the sharp decline that began three days ago. Crude futures were also bolstered by traders who saw an opportunity to buy into the market after prices fell nearly 11 per cent earlier in the week. Light sweet crude for August delivery was up $1.59 at US$130.88 a barrel late in the morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading earlier in the session as high as $132.04 and as low as $128.54.

Get infuriated when you fill up your car? Wondering why gas is over $4.00 a gallon? Wondering why we aren't drilling for our own oil?  THREE REASONS!   There are 3 Grades of "NO" to lower gas. Regular  "NO" Plus  "NO" Supreme  "NO"

Bush lifts drilling ban, oil execs leer, nation cringes, Obama sighs I admit to bafflement. I admit to a bit of total confusion mixed with a certain level of stupefied awe and teeth-rattling frustration as to why anyone with the mental acuity of more than a housefly would think that stabbing more holes into Alaska and the eastern seaboard in the search for a few remaining precious drops of oil is a good idea, would solve anything at all, is anything more than the equivalent of hurling matches at the devil. Perhaps I'm missing something. Perhaps there's some dark, secret...

Nancy Pelosi called Bush a total failure in prepared remarks yesterday. This is outrageous. I thought it would be nice to tie up her phone lines this morning and give her some feedback. The young man who answered seemed a bit exasperated. San Francisco, CA - (415) 556-4862 - Washington, D.C. - (202) 225-4965

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices are flattening consumer wallets and hobbling our economy, while the Democrats sit back and play politics with the issue. Voter surveys show that the economy and gas prices top the list of the most critical issues facing our country. A Washington Post/ABC News poll reported last week that 85 percent of voters polled said gas prices will be either extremely or very important to their vote in this year's elections. And with good reason: Americans are getting walloped with huge gas bills, while utilities, buckling under ever-higher energy prices, are raising electricity rates to historic levels....

The rhetoric over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is heating up as gas prices rise, with pro-drilling members of Congress and congressional hopefuls making visits to the refuge to hammer home their point. A group of House Republicans led by minority leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, are headed to Alaska this weekend for a tour of ANWR. Seven Republican U.S. House candidates from around the country also flew to the refuge this week and told reporters in Anchorage Thursday that it strengthened their pro-drilling stance. "I will go back to the people of Utah and confirm to the...

WASHINGTON: Upon entering Congress in 1987, Representative Nancy Pelosi quickly became part of the solid California front against oil drilling along much of the nation's coast. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the steady push to tap the potential reserves off the state's rugged coast had galvanized Californians and made opposition to offshore drilling part of the political DNA of up-and-coming figures like Pelosi.

There is no quick fix to $4.50-a-gallon gas, no way to provide instant relief to consumers we know are hurting. Yet President Bush and others continue to push the false promise of offshore oil drilling. Just this week, the president lifted the executive order banning drilling that George H.W. Bush put in place in 1990. And he's asked Congress to lift its own moratorium on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf -- which includes coastal waters as close as three miles from shore. This would be a terrible mistake. It would put our nation's precious coastlines in jeopardy and...

A recent Rasmussen Reports* national survey of 1,000 likely voters reveals that close to 70% agree with Senator McCain that the ban on offshore drilling should be lifted to ease the price of oil. Leading Democrats are still trying to prevent oil companies from offshore drilling, even with the high poll numbers against them. Led by Speaker Pelosi, Democrats are ignoring what the public is calling for. They claim drilling for oil would take too long, and that oil companies are not drilling on land already leased to them. Americans have heard these excuses, and we still want offshore drilling.

Now that an executive branch ban on offshore oil exploration has been lifted, the time has come for Democrats in Washington to lift their own ban on increased domestic supply. Americans are demanding that Congress do something about record-high gas prices. They recognize that prices will not go down unless supplies go up. And they also know that the only thing now standing in the way of more domestic supply is the Democratic refusal to allow it...

It is interesting how, in the aftermath of the past year’s run-up in oil prices, we have been hearing less and less talk of “globalization” from the chattering classes. Why is this? On the surface, there are several reasons. First, the topic high oil prices presents an easy segue to bring up the annointed’s favorite mantra: green technologies and the need to continue de-industrializing America. We can all get high-paying “green” jobs to replace the textile, manufacturing, computer programming, and bio-tech jobs which have been developed in the United States and then shipped offshore. And the high oil prices themselves...

The governor of Florida would consider going to court to guarantee his right to permit offshore oil exploration around Florida’s coasts. But Charlie Crist, who has been cited as a possible running mate for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, told the Financial Times that in preference to court action it would be “more productive” for Congress to overturn its ban on offshore drilling. Oil exploration in all but a few sectors of US coastal waters has been prohibited since the 1980s by separate congressional and presidential bans. However, George W. Bush on Monday lifted the White House’s moratorium and called...

What’s a “Giant Oil Field?” Given the current price of gasoline (and other forms of ‘energy’), a few definitions are in order: Giant Oil Field - Definition ‘A’ (from Wikipedia) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_oil_and_gas_fields ]: “The world's 932 giant oil and gas fields are considered those with 500 million barrels of ultimately recoverable oil or gas equivalent.” Giant Oil Field - Definition ‘B’ (based on personal experience with American environmentalists): “But, dude, a half billion barrels is such a drop in the bucket!” “OK – so why should I recycle aluminum cans, or install compact fluorescent lights? Those would just be a few...

...The bill initially failed within the house, but reports surfaced yesterday that Pelosi and Reid had been holding private meetings with moderate congressional Democrats who have refused to support the bill, in an attempt to revive the legislation. Of course, with my inquisitive mind, I decided to actually look into the bill and determine why Pelosi and Reid are pushing so hard. What I discovered, is that hidden deep inside the bill are some ...

The Bush administration didn’t waste much time after its lifting of the executive ban on off-shore drilling to make its second big gesture towards the oil markets. Late yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management opened 3.9 million acres of land in Alaska for drilling and exploration. The land had already been reserved for petroleum production, but had been kept in limbo by complaints and legal action by environmentalists: The US federal government on Wednesday said it would open 3.9m acres of land in a designated petroleum reserve in Alaska for drilling as a means to help curb rising petrol prices....

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called President George W. Bush "a total failure" who "has no ideas," in an interview with CNN. Responding to stinging criticism from Bush on the Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress and the slow pace of the legislative agenda, as Congress prepares for its one-month summer recess in August, Pelosi let loose: "You know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject." Pelosi, 68,...

The Crude Truth July 17, 2008 Most politicians, and all liberal politicians, are a disgrace to the concepts of good governance.  James Madison warned us about this in Federalist No. 10 when he cautioned that, “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” Today, in lieu of “enlightened statesmen”, American governance is dominated by Mini-Me Machiavellis adept at obtaining and retaining power for the sole purpose of...obtaining and retaining power. Good governance, or shepherding the will and best interests of the citizenry, has nothing to do with it. Immediately after John McCain admitted the previous error of his ways and voiced support for...

A Canadian boy was rescued after being kidnapped, hidden in a car's trunk and forced into an oil drum, officials said. The abduction took place when a man grabbed the 8-year-old boy off a street Tuesday in the Canadian province of Quebec, the Gazette, Montreal reported Thursday. A witness called authorities and other people gave information to police as the abductor drove around Levis with the boy, the newspaper said. One onlooker said they saw the boy in the trunk while stopped at a traffic light, and another said they saw the man remove the boy from the car and...

Oil drops $5.31 to settle at $129.29 for biggest three-day dollar drop ever. Wall Street rallies as stocks reverse earlier losses.