American Usage Of Natural Resources In Decline

Political Realities ^ | 06/18/13 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

One of our disagreements with President Barack Obama has to do with the usage of the natural resources we have in America. Many of us would like to see them better utilized. It is worthy to note that the desire to see this happen started long before Obama moved into the White House, or even before he came on the political scene. We have continually stated that we should develop all of our natural resources and do our best to move away, as much as possible, from using foreign sources of oil. With the amount of oil we have in this country, as well as all the other natural resources, it just makes sense to many of us. President Obama doesn't necessarily abide by that line of reasoning.

Throughout his first term in office, Obama was not bashful about touting his accomplishments in the area of natural resources. He loved making the claim that his administration had approved more drilling leases than ever before. When he was faced with questions about that claim, as he was during one of the presidential debates of 2012, he just falls back into his same mantra of denial. Mitt Romney tried to show the President was lying, but between the media and Obama's refusal to own up to his lies, the truth never got traction in the sand of the media coverage surrounding the election. As it turns out, Mitt Romney was right and once again, President Obama has been caught lying to the America people.

Maggie's Notebook - In the October 16, 2012 Presidential debate, candidate Mitt Romney accused Barack Obama of cutting new permits and new oil leases for offshore oil and gas drilling by half. In fact, those permits and leases fell by more than half. Romney also claimed that domestic oil production on federal lands decreased by 14 percent. Obama said that “just wasn’t true,” but it was true. During Obama’s first term in office, only 1,304 new offshore leases were issued – a third of that of the G. W. Bush second term and a decrease of 61 percent.

The Washington Free Beacon in March 2013 pointed to a Department of Agriculture Inspector’s General report showed of 1,881 applications for drilling permits on public land, fewer than 4 percent were “recent” or filed in the last 180 days. The remainder had been in the government pending file for what the report refers to as “prolonged delays.” Not only were revenues not forthcoming, but prevented the “efforts of the private sector to provide energy to the public.”

We should not be surprised at the truth of the matter. Generally speaking, if President Obama is touting some statistic or another, discovering the truth is a simple matter. Just turn around 180° and look in the opposite direction of where the President is pointing. The truth will usually be around there somewhere. I would suggest you read the entire post from Maggie's Notebook to see exactly how much America's usage of our own natural resources has declined. The list will astound you with the clarity it provides to the agenda President Obama has embarked on from Day One of his presidency.

Did the President not say his energy plan would necessarily bankrupt the coal companies? How many times have we heard the President demonize the oil and gas companies? The budge he proposed in February of 2013 actually calls for $66 billion in new taxes on the oil and gas industry. I would humbly suggest that coal companies are not the only companies that should be worried about Obama's energy agenda. To say he isn't friendly to the companies that develop our natural resources is an understatement. How much longer must we sit still and listen to the President make proclamations that are simply not true? Representative Joe Wilson was much closer to the truth than many would give him credit for, when he pointed at President Obama and shouted "you lie". The truth in those two words is becoming more apparent every day.

[cuban leaf]

...$66 billion in new taxes on the oil and gas industry....

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...which, of course, is passed on to the consumer in higher taxes. I wonder how much a gallon of gas would cost if there were no taxes whatsoever rolled into the price.

[schm0e]

Retail gasoline sales have tanked.