Free Republic

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - U.S. reliance on imported oil poses a national security risk, and energy policy should include everything from expanding domestic drilling to finding alternative fuels, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said on Wednesday. In her speech accepting the vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention, Palin said a natural gas pipeline under construction in Alaska would one day "lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart." She said the United States should not be so reliant on imported oil that it has to tap its...

On Aug. 1, the same day the call for a vote on drilling began on the House floor, the Alaska state Senate approved a package of measures to license a new natural gas pipeline. ... The legislature had been trying for 30 years to authorize something like this and, up until now, had blown it. Palin got it through...

SALT LAKE CITY — The best deal on fuel in the country right now might be here in Utah, where people are waiting in lines to pay the equivalent of 87 cents a gallon. Demand is so strong at rush hour that fuel runs low, and some days people can pump only half a tank. It is not gasoline they are buying for their cars, but natural gas. By an odd confluence of public policy and private initiative, Utah has become the first state in the country to experience broad consumer interest in the idea of running cars on clean...

By: Center for American Progress Action Fund ASHINGTON, DC Aug. 13, 2008 - Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) voted against every attempt to increase clean alternative energy sources during this Congress, according to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Rep. Hunter's opposition to wind, solar, geothermal and other clean energy sources contrasts with his participation in the House Republicans protests in favor of offshore oil drilling in protected areas. These protests in the closed House chamber began on August 1st and House Republican Leaders announced that they will continue through August 22nd. "Rep. Hunter wins the...

A public outcry [which public?]about wildlife, wilderness and cultural resources in the Vernal area has led federal officials to curtail oil and gas drilling on more acres than originally proposed in a long-term land plan. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Friday released its four-volume final environmental-impact statement and a proposed land-use plan for 1.7 million acres in the Book Cliffs and the Uinta Basin, one of the nation's most active energy-exploration areas. The document proposes closing 186,917 acres to drilling, nearly three times the amount of land the agency wanted off-limits when it released its draft plan in...

SAGINAW - T-Boone Pickens says they're the wave of the future. But a wind turbine meant to save one Saginaw family on electricity has instead sparked a huge headache for their neighbors. "It makes a terrible air raid noise," says Debbie Behrens, about the high-pitched whine made by the turbine. "It's driving me crazy." What's worse, is that Debbie and her son Lance both say that high-pitched hum is now causing them problems, physically. "You occasionally have the dizziness," explains Lance, "The ringing in the ears, I've never experienced the ringing in the ears." It turns out, there is a...

In May of 2006 Ron Klein stood underneath the Clay Shaw Bridge and announced America was, "off the bridge ... and down the wrong path", on energy policy. A few weeks later he proclaimed, 'Our self-generated energy independence will allow us for the first time to tell Iran and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and other hostile oil-producing countries, 'We don't need your $60-a-barrel oil....... Only when we have taken oil off the table will we be in a position to put our muscle to Iran and Hezbollah and other threats posed by terrorists." After winning the election for the House...

"Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) Jimmy Carter President Carter speaks to Americans about the "crisis of confidence" in American government, values, and way of life, as the public expresses doubt in a better future for their own children. Carter challenges citizens to unite and address the problems in America by first addressing the energy shortage. Flash Video Downloadable Content Video: Windows MediaQuicktimeReal Media Audio: MP3 Help With Video Help With Audio Transcript Good evening. This is a special night for me. Exactly 3 years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run...

As the members of the MSM continue to beat the drums for “renewable” energy, and T. Boone Pickens promises pie-in-the-sky free energy from windmills the corruption surrounding Green Energy is beginning to be revealed. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars are involved and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is only the latest to be found with her hand in the cookie jar. Here’s the unvarnished truth: the world has been getting most of its energy from fossil fuels for over a century. During the 20th century we began to see the use of nuclear energy. In the US that path to...

It's amazing how ideas with no merit become popular merely because they sound good. Most every politician and pundit says "energy independence" is a great idea. Presidents have promised it for 35 years. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were self-sufficient, protected from high prices, supply disruptions and political machinations? The hitch is that even if the United States were energy independent, it would be protected from none of those things. To think otherwise is to misunderstand basic economics and the global marketplace. To be for "energy independence" is to be against trade. But trade makes us as safe. Crop...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain's trip to Louisiana won't include a visit with GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal, whose mention as a potential McCain running mate has fallen off in recent weeks. McCain is scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on Monday night and plans to visit an oil rig off Louisiana's coast on Tuesday.

I'm not talking about the mere physical attractiveness of Alaska's governor, though she has been blessed with an abundance of that gift. Palin was a competitor in the 1984 Miss Alaska beauty pageant after being named Miss Wasilla earlier that year, where she also won Miss Congeniality honors. No, what I'm dicussing here is beauty in the political sense - as in the beauty of what John McCain, if he's smart and willing to make a really bold move, could accomplish by naming Governor Palin as his running mate for the presidential election. Those making the case for Palin as...

Security: What do Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez and Islamic extremists have in common? They're funded by America's thirst for foreign oil. If drilling isn't a cure by itself, it's a start.Wars aren't cheap, even when they go well. But Russia has plenty of money to burn on war. It's flush with Western cash because it's flush with oil and natural gas. If Putin wishes to recreate the domain of the tsars, he has the wherewithal for that grand ambition. The resurgent Russian empire is one of the big winners in the massive wealth transfer that has taken place in recent...

Will John McCain turn Tsar Putin’s invasion of Georgia into a drill, drill, drill issue? He should. It will throw Democrats even more on the defensive -- especially Sen. Obama whose weak response to Putin’s neo-Soviet actions have already put him way behind the eight ball on Russia. McCain’s responses have been superb. And President Bush today adopted many of them -- in particular the warnings on world trade, the G8 (G7?), and a Truman-like airlift of humanitarian assistance relief. Even sending Condi Rice over there and putting SecDef Bob Gates into play. McCain has been appropriately tough all along....

The opponents of increased domestic drilling complain that it will take too many years before the oil it produces will get to market, and that it will make very little difference in the price of gasoline at the pump. Both arguments are totally without merit, as I have shown here, here and here. But let's forget all that for the moment. Though high prices at the pump hurt us all, there's a much more compelling reason to ramp up domestic exploration, production and refining. It's the most important issue in the United States right now, and it has been since...

The federal moratorium on offshore drilling has to be renewed every year and, failing that, it expires. President Bush can come out at the beginning of September, welcome Nancy and Harry and all the kids back from their summer vacation, and tell them that October 1, 2008 is America's Energy Independence Day. The president will proclaim that despite months of cajoling, he could not get the Democrats to help the American people through this energy crunch, so he will throw open for careful, environmentally safe drilling, all of America's offshore areas that were previously off limits. Any attempt to extend...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)(CNSNews.com) – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to free the United States from dependence on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela within a decade and also attacked his Republican opponent John McCain as the candidate of big oil. While speaking at Michigan State University in Lansing, Mich., the Illinois senator again repeated that he is open to limited offshore oil drilling in the United States, a shift from his previous opposition to drilling. However, Obama said that much more needs to be done. “Now, increased domestic oil exploration certainly has its place...

Washington - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called on the United States to end its dependence on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years as part of a broad speech laying out his energy plans on Monday. Obama, who celebrated his 47th birthday Monday, said he would direct the 'full resources' of government towards promoting renewable energy sources, investing 150 billion dollars over the 10-year period. 'Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face. It's gonna take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy,' Obama said in Michigan,...

As a Texas oilman and major contributor to the Republican Party, you’ve just launched yourself, at 80, into green stardom by devising an energy plan that relies mainly on wind power. How does it feel to be in the company of Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats? If they’re on my side, that’s good. We’re working on a nonpolitical venture here. Why do you think your energy plan is superior to others’ plans? My dad once said to me, “Son, a fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan.� I’ve used that here in this...

There seems to be this disconnect with understanding just what the democrats are doing or not doing about drilling for oil and in general, a realistic national energy policy The answer is very simple; The House under the control of Nancy Pelosi was waiting for Obama to change his position on drilling. Do we really think they are that stupid to think we believe we can inflate our tires and tune our cars to fix our energy policy? That was Obama talking off the cuff and since he wasn't on teleprompter he said something stupid which he does quite frequently...

Stephanopoulos to Pelosi: Why No Up or Down Vote on Drilling? By Noel Sheppard Created 2008-08-03 13:41 It seems that even ABC's George Stephanopoulos is getting fed up with Congressional Democrats blocking efforts by Republicans to expand offshore oil drilling in order to bring down gas prices. On Sunday's "This Week," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) was asked repeatedly why she refuses to allow this issue to come to a vote. The look of disgust on Stephanopoulos's face as Pelosi mumbled non sequitur after non sequitur was almost more telling of his sense of frustration than the number...

A Burge-Goldstein 2008 Campaign Policy BriefWith the 2008 Presidential campaign heating up, the Burge-Goldstein rapid response team will be releasing online position papers on the pressing issues of the day. Today, nominee Dave Burge outlines his views on two emerging questions: tire inflation and nude dancing in Iowa.Continued

Dashboard Obama, His ego inflates when your tires inflate.

News item: Russia announced plans on Sunday to revive its once-mighty navy by building several aircraft carriers and upgrading its fleet of nuclear submarines in the coming years. Russia's power at sea is a shadow of the formidable Soviet navy which challenged U.S. military dominance in the Cold War. But, with a strong economy now from booming oil exports, it is seeking to raise its profile on the world stage by modernizing the armed forces. Russia will build five or six aircraft carrier battle groups in the near future, RIA news agency quoted Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky as telling Navy...

Going Nuclear   By John PerazzoFrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, July 24, 2008 Something was amiss when Al Gore gave his high-profile speech on global warming last week, and it wasn’t just the gas-guzzling SUV caravan that delivered the former vice president for the occasion. Even as Gore endorsed an ambitious 10-year plan to produce 100 percent of the country’s electricity through carbon-free sources, he omitted the one carbon-free source that truly could ease America’s energy woes: nuclear power. That is not entirely surprising. For the environmental Left, the efficiency of nuclear power has long been an inconvenient truth. The anti-nuclear...

When folks in Washington want to find out what's on the mind of the American people, they tune in to CNN or Fox News and listen to the best of the Washington talking heads. Not me. I have breakfast at my favorite diner in Eufaula, my hometown in Oklahoma. Last week, the folks at J.M.s Restaurant weren't talking about senators Obama and McCain, or the fact the Iraqi government has al Qaeda on the run. They were talking about energy prices. They were talking about the fact it costs $80 to fill up their cars and $120 to fill up...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oil prices will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years if the United States fails to reduce its dependence on foreign imports, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. The United States imports nearly 70 percent of its oil and Pickens said the world's top petroleum-consuming nation would import 80 percent in a decade if it does not aggressively tap its own natural gas and renewable resources. "If we continue to drift, oil will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years," Pickens testified at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and...

McCain: Will end dependence on foreign oil (NECN: South Portland, Maine) - Senator John McCain attended a picnic at the Maine Military Museum in South Portland, Maine on Monday. "Everybody here knows what has happened to a gallon of gas, our lowest income Americans are hurting the most, some of them can't even get to work," said the Republican presidential candidate. "We are sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much and some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. I will end this dependence on foreign oil," said McCain.

Americans must restart our creative engines for energy security. For more than 30 years, our engines have been in the pits, as our energy needs and innovative spark have fallen victim to environmental alarmism and strangling government regulation. What we have to do begins with where we are now. That’s also called “the status quo.” Ronald Reagan said “status quo” was “…Latin for the mess we’re in.” In the 1980 Republican convention, soon-to-be President Reagan said: "Those who preside over the worst energy shortage in our history tell us to use less, so that we will run out of oil,...

Gas is still at $4 a gallon, but the good news is there's an emerging consensus on a measure that would help: Drill for more oil here at home. President Bush dropped the executive ban on offshore oil and natural gas exploration last week, and House GOP leader John Boehner plans to lead a congressional delegation to Colorado and Alaska to highlight America's abundant energy resources this week. Polls show more than two-thirds of the public support increased domestic energy exploration and production. Guess who stands in the way. Congress has its own ban on offshore energy exploration, and the...

Our mission is to inspire Americans to pressure their representatives in government to do what’s necessary for the United States of America to become energy independent. Included in this mission is a commitment to remind all American Citizens of the powerful premise on which our Constitution was based:

I don't find this by search, had just seen it on Fox. He's not tilting Obama is he?

Nuclear power is gaining momentum in the United States as the nation seeks environmentally friendly and affordable sources of energy that can meet growing demand. France is an example of a country that developed nuclear energy to reduce foreign energy dependence after the oil shock of the 1970s. It now receives nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power and is a net exporter of electricity. Finland, ranking fifth in the world for per capita electricity consumption, has a significant incentive to secure long-term energy solutions. Embracing nuclear energy as part of an effort to decrease the nation's dependency...

Senate Democrats promise to kill Alaska drilling plan Hearst Newspapers WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats vowed Thursday to block a White House plan to open 1.5 million acres of protected Arctic wilderness for oil drilling and exploration, calling it "dead on arrival" one day after it was approved by the House of Representatives. The Senate will debate the plan after Labor Day. At issue is a swath of the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

This year, we have an obligation to stand together behind a new declaration — a declaration of energy independence. We, as a nation, face an energy crisis, and I know that if we harness the same American ingenuity and commitment this country was founded on, we can solve this crisis. We have two responsibilities: Bring down gas prices in the short term and break our national addiction to oil in the long term. Moving toward clean, affordable alternative energy will strengthen our national security, revive our economy and preserve our environment, and the time is now. I announced a plan...

FIRST — do you know what ANWR is? ANWR = Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Now, why do you think that the democrats are lying about anwr? Remember when Al Gore said that the government should work to artificially raise gas prices to $5.00 a gallon? Well... Al gore and his fellow democrats have almost reached their goal! Now that you know that the democrats have been lying, what are you going to do about it? You can start by visiting this and then forwarding it to everyone you know so that they will know the truth. And remember to vote...

America has an Estimated 1 to 2 Trillion Barrels of oil locked in shale in the Midwest. That could be as much as 8 times the total proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. America could be energy independent within 5 years. (Note that this is primarily in the Green River Formation. There is some debate about the Bakken Formation.) Any alternatives to our oil economy are at least 30 years away (possibly never). While there are many ways of extending our oil supplies, and I vigorously support and promote all of them, we can not HOPE our way out of...

WASHINGTON — In his most controversial television ad yet, Republican John McCain calls for more domestic oil drilling. “We went to the moon, not because it was easy, but because it was hard,” the ad’s narrator says. “John McCain will call America to our next national purpose — energy security.”

Click for movie

CNN rarely features much of interest but did run a piece recently on biofuels which included some attention to a nation which, unlike the United States, learned something from the oil crisis of the 1970s. That nation resolved not to continue its dependence on Arab whims and wars and chose to become energy self-sufficient. Instead of virtually shutting down domestic oil exploration and ceasing to build oil refineries and nuclear generating plants, and bemoaning the cost of fuel—as we did, and are doing—that nation began developing its own resources. Those resources included limited domestic oil fields and an unlimited supply...

Look what your petrodollars helped finance: *“The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people.” *“In these verses is a call for jihad, which is the pinnacle of Islam…Only through force and victory over the enemies is there security and repose.” *God “prohibits killing the soul...unless for just cause…unbelief after belief, adultery, and killing an inviolable believer intentionally.” These quotes are from Arabic language, secondary-school textbooks at northern Virginia’s Islamic Saudi Academy. As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported June 11, “The Commission’s review of these textbooks found that they did contain passages justifying...

Here's how not only John McCain, but the GOP can win the White House and Congress in November...

For many years now I've been calling for a Manhattan Project to find and develop new energy sources. This has not been undertaken, at least at the government level, unless it is classified and has not been leaked. In any case, such a project will take years to come up with a viable alternative. In the meantime, as a matter of national security and defense against the jihad, we should certainly develop our own oil supplies. Obama, however, is correct that this is not a long-term solution. But not to do it now while they bleed us dry and the...

YET CONGRESS RECENTLY VOTED TO MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO DEVELOP U.S. OIL SHALE RESOURCES With oil prices at an all-time high, Americans are facing escalating gas, diesel, and aircraft fuel increases. Oil prices are projected to increase further. Congress, however, has made it illegal to develop vast domestic oil resources in large parts of the United States. The most startling Congressional prohibition on domestic oil production concerns the recently enacted ban on the development of oil shale resources in parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming in the Green River Formation. According to a Rand Study estimate, this reserve contains over...

The Department of Commerce recently announced that the U.S. trade deficit reached $60.9 billion this past April. America's trade deficit increased by $600 million from April 2007 to April 2008, even though U.S. exports increased by $25 billion.Why is our country facing a rising trade deficit even though American-made exports grew 19.2% over the last year (April 2007 to April 2008)? The answer is found at gas stations across the country and in America's $34.5 billion petroleum deficit, which is roughly half of our monthly trade deficit. America's dependence on foreign energy forces us to import about 12 million barrels...

The price of everything, not just driving, is going up in the era of $130-a-barrel oil, but our presidential candidates have a hopelessly thumbless grasp of pocketbook politics. Their mutual slogan could be "Let them eat abstractions." Barack Obama famously couldn't connect with working-class voters in the primaries, offering them an airy diet of hope and change. John McCain rose on his personal honor, which is why on energy he's fumbling away the GOP's best domestic political opening in years. For a politician whose forte has never been domestic policy, McCain has a peculiar taste for complex, verging on unworkable,...

No matter how hard some may try, you can never talk a problem to death. Solving problems means taking action. Record prices at the gas pump, higher costs at the grocery store, and pay checks that don’t always stretch through the week are growing American problems that need action.  The core problem – rising energy costs – won’t be solved by talk. We need a common sense, action-based American Energy Plan for our nation.We also need a strong grassroots movement supporting action that will give us American Energy Independence.  If we came together and began taking action today, we could...

McCain, Obama, and Energy Independence By Rene Guerra "McCain Tells Oil Companies to Share Their Profits," reads the title of the CNS News report.Share their profits? What’s new here? Is it not that, anyway, what most companies do with legitimate company owners -- shareholders, that is -- who, by the way, in the case of oil companies, include most workers with 401K plans? Alas, McCain talks about “sharing� (codeword for “confiscating�) those profits by way of distributing them amongst everyone in America -- ticks, fleas and bedbugs included -- as if someone else’s profits were a piñata for all. McCain...

The recent spike in oil prices and unemployment is dramatically changing this presidential campaign — virtually overnight. The near $20 jump in oil to $140 a barrel, the unexpected half-point increase in the jobless rate to 5.5% (the biggest monthly increase in 20 years) and the resulting 400-point plunge in stocks has created a new campaign issue right before our eyes. Public worry No. 1 is now oil, jobs and the economy, with the inflationary woes of the U.S. dollar right underneath. The candidate who can connect with these issues will win in November. But so far neither Barack Obama...

Dems Kill Chances for Energy Independence? A congressional subcommittee struck down an important bill, which could have opened up reserves worth billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, on Wednesday, Cramer said. The measure would allow drilling between 50 miles and 200 miles off the U.S. coastline. Estimates for the reserves there were as high as 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, in addition to potential undiscovered resources of 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of gas. Needless to say, Cramer’s a bit...