Obama's Cynical Energy Agenda

National Affairs ^ | SUMMER 2012 | ADAM J. WHITE

[neverdem]

The American economy is flagging, and desperately in need of greater productivity and innovation. One presumes that President Obama understands as much; he has in fact suggested that he knows where this needed boost might come from. In this year's State of the Union Address, the president said that "nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy." His speech seemed to acknowledge that the American economy needs plentiful, affordable energy to thrive, and that the energy sector has a great deal of room to grow. Indeed, in his remarks, Obama touted the possibility of 600,000 new jobs over the next decade from natural-gas development alone.

But for all his talk of boosting American-made energy and breaking our dependence on hostile powers abroad, the president's policies have not matched his rhetoric. Again and again, the administration has had chances to support growth in America's energy sector — by enabling greater electricity production, drilling for fossil fuels, promoting nuclear power, or pursuing other measures. But at nearly every turn, rather than taking advantage of these opportunities, Obama and his advisors have foreclosed them. Instead, the administration has embraced an agenda of radical constraint — severely limiting the development and availability of energy resources in the misguided belief that a clean environment, or a stable climate, requires that we use less energy. The result has been harmful not only to America's energy sector, but to the nation's economy more broadly.

Worse yet, the president has impeded the energy sector not through an explicitly articulated policy pursued in the open for the public to evaluate and judge, but rather through a series of concealed and dishonest maneuvers. By applying pressure on private companies in secret, effectively shutting down projects through endless delay, refusing to consider applications for permits, and otherwise surreptitiously...

[Bratch]

When no one holds you accountable for your actions, you can do anything you want.

[neverdem]

Obama's Cynical Energy Agenda, while long and detailed, didn't even touch fracking for natural gas or oil or any subsidized biofuels.

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Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

When no one holds you accountable for your actions, you can do anything you want. It leads directly to the existence of a political party whose only principle is going along and getting along with “objective” journalism. A party which is rewarded for its loyalty with positive PR and the suppression of negative PR.