Posted on 07/02/2011 7:28:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
I was asked by the National Journal to weigh in on the following question for their Energy & Environment blog:
"What precedent is this administration setting by tapping into the reserves at a time of ongoing unrest in the Middle East and seemingly sustained high oil prices?"
Here is my answer:
Precedence? You ask what precedent the administration is setting by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for only the third time in our nation's history? I'll tell you. They are setting a precedent as easily the most blatantly political administration ever in American history.
I'll offer just a few examples of the evidence:
1. This is the administration with a publicly stated objective to "boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."
2. This is the administration that cancelled existing leases on millions of acres of federal land and banned development in vast amounts of reserves both on and off-shore.
3. This is the administration that was ordered by a federal court to lift an ill-conceived moratorium on drilling in the gulf, and then was found in contempt with a "determined disregard" of the court's ruling to start issuing permits.
4. This is the administration that turned "a regulatory firehose" on US business and the energy industry in particular with 29 new major regulations and 172 major policy rules finalized or proposed in its first 22 months.
5. This is the administration who lied to congress in March, 2011 by claiming production in the gulf "remained at an all-time high, and we expect that it will continue." However the Government's own Energy Information Agency had already reported a decline of 300,000 bpd in the first year following the administration's gulf moratorium fiasco and projected a total decline in production of 35% by late summer, 2012.
6. This is the administration whose policies have caused revenues from onshore oil and gas leasing in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to plunge more than 80%, and total acreage leased to shrink to the lowest level ever.
7. This is the administration that Steve Forbes correctly labeled as having the "most anti-oil and gas record in U.S. history."
8. This is the administration that promised that energy cost would "skyrocket" under their plan of onerous regulation.
And, now having waged war on the energy industry and American consumer's wallets for more than two years; that is exactly what has happened. Despite some recent relief, prices for gasoline are almost double what they were when Obama took office, and due to new regulations being imposed by the Obama Administration, analysts are warning that electricity rates could jump 40-60% over the next few years.
The crisis that prompted Barack Obama to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve didn't come from a foreign enemy or a natural disaster, as was the case the only two other times that the SPR has been drained. This was entirely a crisis of Obama's own making. It even has a name – "Operation Re-Election."
The sorry state of the economic recovery and kitchen table issues overwhelm any other issue on the minds of voters. So, Obama and his Central Planners will pull out all the stops in trying to hoodwink the voters one more time; even if that means creating a national security vulnerability by draining the SPR in exchange for a few cents of relief at the pump. This isn't the first time this administration has been shameless, and with a year and a half until the election we're likely in for a few more examples.
Obama is destroying the USA. Now we went all out to get a GOP House to stop him. They refuse to do it. We are helpless for two more years. Even then we have no place to turn because the GOP is compromised. It is going to get bumpy.
another point about the title just struck me.
“Man-Caused” Disaster
isn’t that 0bama’s left-speak for terrorism?
As I posted on another thread, Obama is a one man flash mob.
The sole purpose of the Republican Party is to serve as an ineffective alternative to the Democrat Party.
One of the greatest wastes of a government is its resources. We have a unemployment , a real unemployment exceeeding 10%.
This affects everything , our GNP, our productivity, our expectations and our household income. He has gas at a all time high, he wants to jack taxes and spend more. It is hitting everyone hard.
Once America figure out that Obama has made things worse, far worse for the average stiff, she will wake up.
So, kill OBL, lower gas prices, release the BC, whatever it takes to get the poll numbers up.
BTW, if you think his numbers are bad now, wait until August 2, when he blows past the debt limit without spending cuts.
Crude oil is right at $95 a barrel now.
zackly.
So, if the crude in the reserve is valued at $130, why sell at a lower price?
Another question; will anyone buy $130 crude in a $95 market ?
Why is that crude more valuable than the crude they are pumping out of the ground?
It’s not.
I predict there will be no sale.
Odumbo better thank Bush for putting it in there - while the dems. were bitching about it!
Generally the cost of something goes up every time you handle i t.
The oil goes in after being bought on the market. It cost 5 dollars a barrel to put it in. The oil comes out and you charge another 5 dollars a barrel to get it out.
Of course what they should do is have a policy to buy oil for the reserve at 60 dollars a barrel, and sell it at 120 dollars a barrel. That way the low price is raised, so that production will continue, and the high cost is reduced, avoiding shocks to the economy- and the govt makes money in the process. between 60 and 120 dollars, the govt should do nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.