Posted on 06/19/2008 9:49:46 AM PDT by Josh Painter
You must have seen or heard it. It's been repeated ad nauseum by Democrats on floors of both houses of Congress, before TV cameras and radio microphones and at recent campaign events. "We can't drill our way out of this." The donkey party's latest mantra has been hammered home by the usual suspects from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to Barack Obama. Like most Democrat talking points, it's a falsehood.
Yes we CAN drill our way out of this. Just the announcement of our intention to drill in any one of the Big Three Forbidden Zones (off the Continental Shelf, in the Baaken or in ANWR) would have a considerable impact on the speculators who have been driving the price of oil ever skyward for the past several months. Hugh Hewitt makes the point:
No one wants to get caught holding the contract for high priced oil when new reserves are discovered.In fact, the speculation which has driven up the price of oil is only made possible because we have allowed the environmental lobbyists to tie our hands, thus preventing ourselves from exploiting our own considerable domestic supplies:
In the current oil market unreasonable speculation is simply a symptom of the problem. That problem being the lack of a stable supply of crude oil.But no one that I know of is claiming that all we should do is drill for oil to try to make ourselves more energy independent. Most advocates for increased domestic drilling see it as just one tactic in a compresehsive strategic energy policy which also encourages building more nuclear reactors, synthesizing liquid fuels from coal and waste celluloic stock, continuing the refinement of hybrid electric vehicles and developing hydrogen as a motor fuel, just for starters. We think that it's really cool that used cooking oil can be easily made into something that diesel engines can burn. We see clean burning natural gas and propane as the logical alternative fuels for buses and fleet vehicles.Current oil production levels are virtually identical to demand with very little excess capacity available in the event of an interruption. Political instability, weather hazards, refinery breakdowns, terror attacks, kidnapping/attacks on oil platforms and hostage taking, and other interruptions in production increase the risk that oil supply will not be able to meet the demand in the future.
That is where the market comes in. If you are a large consumer of oil you purchase futures contracts, offering to buy oil in the future, at a set price that the seller has to deliver at that price -- no matter what interruptions occur between now and then. In order to make a profit traders have to build in a premium in the cost of oil to offset that ever increasing risk.
Increasing domestic production -- Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less -- would greatly reduce much of the speculation by mitigating many of the uncertainties. From the list above, if you developed domestic supply in various regions of the US (Both coasts, Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Plains) you would mitigate the major effects of weather, political instability, terror attacks, attacks on platforms, and many other interruptions because there would be additional supplies from the remaining stable US regions. Increasing refining capacity would help mitigate the effects of refinery breakdowns.
This fundamental misunderstanding of the oil markets and the refusal of the Democrats to allow increased energy production has empowered the speculators in ways not seen since the markets began trading, resulting in a direct increase in the price of gasoline. The Democrat's tactic of deflecting blame to the oil companies only serves to increase the speculation as additional restrictions and increased taxes on domestic oil producers historically leads to reduced domestic production.
Nor are we only talking about the supply side here. Many of us have little or no problem with increasing the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, our homes and our workplaces. As conservatives, we have long argued that higher prices will help to drive down demand, and we are seeing that happen in the real world right here and right now.
The truth is that Democrats are so beholden to the environmental special interests that they've painted themselves into a corner on energy matters. The donkeys are trying to swim against an increasing tide:
Most voters favor the resumption of offshore drilling in the United States and expect it to lower prices at the pump, even as John McCain has announced his support for states that want to explore for oil and gas off their coasts.Yes, it's still "the economy, stupid" and especially pump prices for gasoline and diesel, not to mention the high costs the airlines are incurring for jet fuel. The GOP seems to be waking up to what conservatives already knew. Make energy your number one issue and offer doable solutions to the problems of energy security and high prices.A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey—conducted before McCain announced his intentions on the issue--finds that 67% of voters believe that drilling should be allowed off the coasts of California, Florida and other states. Only 18% disagree and 15% are undecided. Conservative and moderate voters strongly support this approach, while liberals are more evenly divided (46% of liberals favor drilling, 37% oppose).
Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters believe it is at least somewhat likely that gas prices will go down if offshore oil drilling is allowed, although 27% don’t believe it. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of conservatives say offshore drilling is at least somewhat likely to drive prices down. That view is shared by 57% of moderates and 50% of liberal voters.
Nearly all voters are worried about rising gas and energy prices, with 79% very concerned and 16% somewhat concerned.
The Democrats, meanwhile, have sentenced themselves to doing hard time in Al Gore's lockbox, and they've entrusted the key to the Sierra Club. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of people, a group which has consistently put its own selfish political interests ahead of America's security and her citizens' bank accounts.
- JP
In all these arguments about opening up domestic production there as been one issue that has been completely absent.
Increased domestic production will decrease oil imports which in turn will decrease the trade deficit. A decreased trade deficit will strengthen the dollar and a stronger dollar will reduce the world wide price of oil.
Also, increased domestic production will create high paying jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, for AMERICANS!
Si se puede!
Or, are the bashers shills and plants from DNC?
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Yes we can.
Saying: “We can’t drill our way out of this.”, is the ultimate in thinking like a loser.
You can’t become buff with one workout, so why exercize at all?
You can’t get rich saving $1, so why save?
You can’t get to be an expert reading one book, so why read at all?
Friggin’ loser left is actively destroying this country. It’s very painful to watch, but the majority of Americans are signed up for it.
Yeah, but what about the windfall profits tax? Isn’t that a great idea?
Good Lord, how come those people up on The Hill aren’t talking about a windfall profits tax on fertilizer and potash, etc., etc.?
I like your post. Good thinking!
(And they certainly will.)
The democrat mantra now is that milions of acres of leases have yet to be drilled so why let new ones?
I suggest the energy company start boring test wells on any lease within sight of any self-righteous democrat’s mansion, the estates and mansions of major democrat political sugar daddies/mamas, and within sight of any pet democrat earmark projects.
” ... Increased domestic production will decrease oil imports which in turn will decrease the trade deficit. ...”
Excellent point. I hadn’t read or thought of that angle. Very true, and very compelling.
That’s why you’ll never hear it in the MSM.
If you think we are so off base that we cannot drill our way out of this, I propose that we drill and you prove us wrong, when it does not work. OK?
Also, increased domestic production will create high paying jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, for AMERICANS!Oh, you can't be right about that.
The Democrats are completely against drilling.
And yet they tell us they want more jobs for Americans.
So you must be mistaken.
Yep, we've heard the Democrats' top 40 hits over and over.
- The war is lost
- The surge is not working
Only losers vote for the loser Democrats.
We certainly can help ourselves a great deal in the short term if we drill here, drill now. Granted, we should continue to research new energy sources. But since oil isn’t just used to make our cars go, we’re always going to need it. Unfortunately, people don’t seem to realize that.
“Only losers vote for the loser Democrats.”
I agree! I don’t know one single soul that votes straight Democrat that I don’t consider damaged.
It will also greatly enhance our national security.
Right now we are at the mercy of the Arabs who are dealing secretly and making big investments in China's infrastructure.
There are some who honestly think trying to teach the Republicans a lesson is a good idea. They're wrong, of course, but they are sincere in their belief.
I am sick of hearing about the “speculators”. Once the prices start to turn south the “speculators” will be driving the price down. That’s how markets work.
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