Posted on 07/09/2008 6:43:59 PM PDT by neverdem
The Democratic leaders in Congress will not allow us to explore for oil and gas in parts of Alaska, offshore America, and now is the time for them to change their mind, President Bush said at the conclusion of the G-8 summit in Japan on Wednesday.
Bush, in his concluding statement on the summit, said he firmly believes that oil exploration can be done in environmentally friendly ways.
High energy prices were among the major topics of discussion at the summit of the worlds leading industrialized nations.
According to President Bush, the G-8 leaders agreed that to bring oil prices down, both supply and demand must be addressed:
On the supply side, oil and production refining capacity need to be increased, Bush said. On the demand side, we agreed to take new steps to increase energy efficiency, and we agreed that fuel subsidies that artificially inflate demand should be eliminated or reduced.
Bush made the comments one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the president, urging him to use your authority as President to draw down a small portion of the oil held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to expand available supplies and help reduce the record prices that are helping push the economy toward recession.
Pelosi noted that oil prices have increased from less than $30 a barrel to a record high of nearly $150 a barrel since your administration took office.
Republicans note that oil prices have more than doubled since Pelosi herself took over the speakers office, promising that Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices
On the contrary, oil and gasoline prices have soared 75 percent since Democrats took control of Congress, Republican leaders say. They call it the Pelosi premium.
In her July 8 letter to Bush, Pelosi insisted that tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more than justified by the destabilizing impact that gasoline price increases are having on the economy.
She noted that Bush himself tapped the SPR in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help reduce crude oil prices. Both Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush also tapped the SPR once each.
Releasing oil from the Reserve is a tool to manage our national and economic security, and when judiciously used will in no way jeopardize national security, Pelosi said. The Reserve is currently 97 percent full -- the highest level ever -- with enough oil to meet our national security needs.
Pelosi said using a small portion of the reserves would provide much needed assistance to American consumers facing record prices and help our economy during a serious period of instability.
Yes, boost supply, Republicans say
House Republican leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) found it interesting that Pelosi is calling for President Bush to release oil supplies from the SPR: In doing so, shes admitting that increasing the supply of oil will help reduce the price of gasoline, Boehner said.
I agree that more supply is necessary, and so do my House Republican colleagues who have been arguing for decades in favor of more American energy production, Boehner continued. Until the Speaker and her colleagues in the liberal Democratic leadership of Congress unlock our nations vast natural energy resources, consumers will continue to see skyrocketing prices at the pump.
House Republicans are calling for an all-of-the-above energy plan that increases production of American energy, encourages conservation, and promotes alternative fuels.
Republicans say Democrats are too beholden to their environmental allies to allow American energy production.
In poll after poll, Americans are saying enough is enough and demanding more production of American energy, Boehner said. Todays proposal by Speaker Pelosi is another acknowledgment that we must do more to increase our energy supply, and House Republicans will continue pushing Democratic leaders to act on real reforms on behalf of the American people.
Oh, yeah. They’re on my list, too. And we’ll have a whole new crop of them to deal with come this November. ;)
Thanks for the ping!
On the contrary, oil and gasoline prices have soared 75 percent since Democrats took control of Congress, Republican leaders say. They call it the Pelosi premium.
Not, needless to say, a phrase you would ever see repeated in the mainstream press. The Republicans may be mumbling such stuff, but they certainly have done a very poor job of getting it out to the voters. MSM or no MSM, they certainly aren't trying very hard to pin the blame where it belongs.
Keep in mind that there was a REASON why so many voters stayed home in 2006; namely, that Bush and the Republicans in congress had already begun to kick them in the teeth.
I voted, and I imagine most Freepers did. And I sent money to people who were in trouble, like Rick Santorum. But it was a lost cause because between 2004 and 2006 the Republicans managed to turn off all those people who had turned out for them in the previous election and were immediately disappointed by the results.
In other words, it cuts both ways. Maybe they were dumb to stay home, but they stayed home because they were tired of getting kicked in the teeth.
"It's like the Super Bowl," he told me. "If your team isn't in it, you root for the team you hate less. That's McCain."
Contact your Congress critters to let them know that you are tired of high gas prices.
Below is the letter I just sent to my inept Senator.
Response to my previous letter is pasted below as a reference. You seem to be in favor of the oil companies drilling where there are no known reserves, but oppose drilling where there are known reserves. If there was profit in drilling on this 68 million acres, the American public is quite sure that the oil companies would be drilling there instead of wanting to drill in -60 degree temperatures.
Do you really think the public is buying into the democratic talking points? Why do you think that congress has the lowest approval rating in history (single digits)”?
Voting to allow drilling in ANWAR and on the contential shelf tomorrow, would cause a huge drop in gas prices at the pump the NEXT DAY. How?
Because this would drive the speculators out of the marketplace and oil would drop immediately.
Starting today, I will email and contact as many Missourians as possible and not only encourage them to oppose your re-election, but to start a grass roots campaign to impeach every member of Congress that no longer represents the wishes of the American citizens. You are in Washington to REPRESENT US. Get with it or get out.
:Dear Mr. Kelly:
Thank you for contacting me regarding domestic energy production. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.
Our leaders need to be more up-front about what is really going on with energy production in this country. Oil companies already have an opportunity to increase domestic oil supply, but they sit on their hands and ask for more land when there is no evidence that they need it. Approvals for drilling on federal lands are at an all-time high and leasing to areas like the Outer Continental Shelf is already occurring.
Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land that they’re not using both in Alaska and in the Gulf. This is over 80% of available federal land and the federal government provides these leases at a discount. Congress needs to pass legislation that would force oil companies to fully utilize these existing areas which contain some of the most abundant supply of oil in this country. It only makes sense that they explore and develop the millions of acres they already have access to before Congress permits drilling in new areas.
.
Pelosi insisted on the biggest jet possible
She runs a private cross-country air-taxi service for her family
I can’t stand Pelosi - or Reid. Crooked lying people!
Absolutely. He should agree to release the oil from the reserves, but only on the condition that she makes a public statement that increasing the supply of oil will bring down the prices.
He should make the offer to her, face to face, on live TV on the floor of the House. The look on here face would be priceless as she stammers, hems and haws and tries have it both ways in front of the cameras.
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