Posted on 07/17/2008 7:38:08 AM PDT by vietvet67
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.
She repeatedly resisted oil drilling in marine sanctuaries off the state's coast near her San Francisco district and, after joining the Appropriations Committee, was an advocate of reinstating the coastal drilling ban through spending restrictions each year.
"We learned the hard way that oil and water do not mix on our coast," Pelosi told a key committee in 1996 as she made her case for keeping the ban in place before a Congress then controlled by Republicans.
Now, with gas prices soaring, those drilling restrictions are facing their most severe test in years as calls intensify to more aggressively pursue domestic oil. Yet despite increasing pressure from President George W. Bush, a full-bore assault by congressional Republicans and some anxiety among her own rank-and-file Democrats, Pelosi is not budging.
"The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say that is because I couldn't drill offshore," Pelosi said in an interview. "That is not the cause, and I am not going to let him get away with it."
Her voice carries considerable weight since, as speaker, Pelosi is in a position to prevent a vote on expanded drilling from reaching the floor
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
If we don’t drill there, someone else will. That gives (1) another country assets that could be ours, which (2) gives another country jobs which we would have otherwise had, and (3) we might end up buying the oil from that country.
Great Job Nancy!!
Or is could be “Pelosi stands firm against the U.S.”
At every opportuntiy, it should be proclaimed who the patriots are and who are the traitors.
It is high time that we create a pic for Pelosi, like this one for Obama...they are one and the same.
Idiot.
Couldn’t Repubicans get the majority back in both houses by running on a campaign promise to lift the congressional ban?
May I suggest that we also take every opportunity to point out the smart women (e.g. Palin) from the ditzes (Pelosi and Boxer).
“May I suggest that we also take every opportunity to point out the smart women (e.g. Palin) from the ditzes (Pelosi and Boxer).”
Absolutely!!! :)
Unfortunately for Nan, the current congressional oil drilling ban expires on September 30, 2008 and she doesn’t have the votes to renew it over a Bush veto.
Fine, impose a very healthy tax on every gallon of gasoline (and on other petroleum products) sold in coastal states that refuse to agree to drilling in their offshore areas.
Such a tax has the beauty of recognizing those states priorities, and as their fantasy alternative fuels replace petroleum quickly, they will no longer be paying the tax.
It is the cause because it's the only thing that congress hasn't done. California has billions of barrels that are off limits.
The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill was nasty, but we have had 39 years now to improve the drilling methods. Oil platforms are better, oil well heads and valves are better and angle drilling can lessen the need for multiple platforms.
It’s Pelosi and the environmentalists who are stuck in 1969, not the oil industry and certainly, not the rest of American consumers. New drilling will lessen oil prices faster than the wells come on line as the foreign companies who are holding us hostage will see we are no longer chumps.
With more of our declining dollar, because we already send about a 1/2 Trillion $$ a year of our wealth overseas just to buy oil. This is insane!! If the GOP/RINOS make domestic drilling their #1 campaign issue; they could actually gain seats in congress, even get the Senate back. Even the inept leaders of the GOP can't screw this up......right??
More people died in the Molasses Flood in Boston than in the 1969 oil spill. As far as oil and water not mixing. More oil leaks into the ocean through cevaces than we drill out.
“Couldn’t Repubicans get the majority back in both houses by running on a campaign promise to lift the congressional ban?”
Yes, we could win back Congress or greatly reduce the seats lost. Projections show huge losses in the Senate and House at this point, despite McCain being neck and neck.
But, where is a GOP leader like Gingrich to mobilize and coordinate such a “compact” or plan? I don’t see that leader out there.
Just speculating here- but has anyone noticed that the rise in oil prices are directlky proportional to the probability of Qbama getting elected. Now that he is making a few mistakes, the price is falling. hmmm
If the Republicans don’t grow a pair and beat the Democrats senseless over this issue they deserve to be a bunch of losers. For Pete’s sake, what is their problem? They have a certain winner here. Blame the Democratic Congress for high prices every minute until November 4, 2009 so unless the American people enjoy paying high prices they know who is doing this to them.
Pelosi is the worst speaker in my lifetime. She is a virtual dictator and a clear and present threat to our national security.
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