Posted on 03/31/2010 9:25:01 AM PDT by kristinn
What the President announced today at-a-glance:
Cancelled five lease sales off the Alaska coast that were planned over the next 2 years. One of the areas is estimated to hold up to 77 billion barrels of oil, or more than 3 times US reserves.
A study of the southern Atlantic OCS, with the findings due back next year .no leasing.
Delaying a planned lease sale off Virginia until at least 2012.
Washington, DC Earlier this morning, President Obama delivered remarks at Andrews Air Force Base on offshore energy exploration and production, and what a scene it was. While many newspapers and cable news pundits cheered the announcement as a positive development, we at the Institute for Energy Research caution lawmakers, the media, and the American people from rushing to conclusions until all the facts are on the table. This is a huge step backward for Americas energy security.
Prior to todays announcement, the vast majority of OCS areas were open for business. No longer. Today, while President may have stated his support for increased energy development in the Eastern Gulf (which requires congressional action) and the Southern Atlantic (which hell study over the next year), he also announced that he would delay the development of the energy resources off Virginia's coast and lock up vast resources off the Alaskan coast.
Additionally, those who cheer the Presidents newfound support for domestic energy resources should remember that the very same Presidents FY 2011 budget proposal includes upwards of $36 billion in new oil and natural gas taxes, which will discourage domestic production, especially in areas like the Southern Atlantic that have little to no existing infrastructure. While todays rhetoric made for a good news cycle, the policy is not a step forward, but a huge leap backward.
Thomas J. Pyle, president of the market oriented Institute for Energy Research, issued the following statement:
Americas offshore energy resources belong to the American people. Not a company, not a special interest, and not a single administration. And a clear majority of the American people supports the commonsense strategy of producing more oil and gas here in America. Unfortunately, today, and to our economic detriment, the President once again ignored the will of the American people.
Just as he did in his State of the Union Address, President Obama cited the imperative of offshore energy exploration. But words alone will do nothing to move this countrys energy policy forward in a meaningful way. Its similar to his announcement on nuclear loan guaranteesthe President talked a good game, then eliminated funding for the only nuclear waste repository in the nation.
In 2008, when Congress and then-President Bush retired the decades-old moratorium on the safe and environmentally sound practice of producing energy miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the American people, and our economy, scored a huge victory. Unfortunately, what President Obama outlined today puts part of that moratorium back in place. Kicking the energy can further down the road is not a change in policy.
Canada drills for oil in the North Atlantic. Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela produce energy in the water to our South. The Russians do the same to our West. Yet, America, the most technologically advanced nation in the world, with the most stringent environmental policies on the books, remains the only nation that imposes burdensome regulations and endless streams of red tape on domestic production. Americans want to stop embargoing our own oil. The presidents plan expands that existing embargo, and Americans will pay the price.
Not so well, after the US companies got the boot. Given ten minutes on a drilling rig, the average roughneck could fix it so it would not work well for a month. Just saying.
What makes the US oil industry the world leader is the competition between companies to produce oil more economically (which brings marginal wells into the range of economical wells) and the fact that it is private enterprise.
Given the government's penchant for one-size-fits all policy, I'd expect disaster after disaster as they tried to produce oil.
Of course I was being facetious.
But, that WOULD be their “solution” - government takeover.
With the pipeline, drilling may pick up if the Feds get out of the way.
We have had similar problems in ND where the Bakken oil, once trading on par with WTI, was being discounted by up to $35/bbl because there was no room for it on the pipeline.
At the other end, though (once it got there) it was worth full price.
What was the pipeline carrying?.. Canadian oil?..
So Obamao’s definition of support is for things that cannot be done now while halting things that can be done now.
“HE IS DUMBER THAT A BOX OF ROCKS AND ALL THAT HE HAS DONE WAS TO BRIBE, COERCE AND THREATEN... HE IS A STREET THUG... HE TAKES HIS ORDERS FROM SOROS AND OTHER COMMIES.”
I couldn’t agree more. I don’t want to brag, but I am a very intelligent person myself [if IQ means anything]. Trust me, I can tell if another person is intelligent or not. Obama may be a smidgen above average or not, but that’s his general bracket. There is no flexibility, creativity or originality in any of his thinking. He bought a certain ideology early on and all he can do is parrot inane generalities about it, regardless of circumstances. A good debater could make him look like a halfwit in under twenty minutes. Sadly, with the media’s nonstop help, he’s managed to further the idea that he is something special, including mentally. Sorry, it just isn’t so.
Yep - see my tagline (much like yours!)
Those fossil fuels along with the USSA have been promised to the New World Order. America will become a wildlife refuge where the elite can shoot everything from Timber wolves to Buffalo.
Look for biochemicals or nuetrons or maybe old fashoined starvation to rid the land of useless eaters.
True... he is devious and cunning... that is not intelligence... and he is dumber than a box of hammers.
LLS
Absolutely... and I too have an IQ above average (158) and I also have the ability to read and listen to a person for a bit and understand at what level they function. Thank you for the reply.
LLS
Whoa nellie, now THAT is a high IQ. ;)
Yes, it’s easy to see that Obama is not that bright the instant you get past the media meme. People today are so gullible. I have faith, though, that the naked emperor will eventually be seen for what he is.
Token. You know what a token is , don’t you Barry?
Canadian Tar sands crude, mixed with Bakken oil to thin it out a mite.
LLS
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