Morning Bell: More Than ANWR
Posted June 16th, 2008 at 9.28am in Energy and Environment.
Skyrocketing gas prices are rapidly changing Americans’ priorities. Voters routinely identify energy costs as either the second or third most important issue. Considering that any economist will tell you that high energy prices are a major cause of recent economic sluggishness, and that the economy has been the No. 1 issue on voters’ minds for some time, the cost of energy has quickly become a defining issue for the nation.
High energy costs were a big reason why liberal efforts to institute a carbon tax failed earlier this month in the Senate. Now emboldened conservatives are moving to further help American consumers by pushing for the lifting of government bans on energy development. In April 2007 only 41% of Americans favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Today, 57% of Americans favor drilling in coastal and wilderness areas currently off limits.
The typical liberal response to calls for more domestic oil production is that drilling will not help lower prices signifcantly. For example, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, “Even by their own standards, drilling in ANWR by the year 2030 would save 1 penny off the price per gallon.” While the estimated 10 to 13 billion barrels of oil currently off limits in ANWR may not drive down the price of oil by itself, liberals are vastly underselling the potential domestic energy possibilities currently off limits thanks to federal bans. Just last week liberals in Congress rejected a proposal to allow drilling for oil 50 miles of the U.S. coast. The U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf.
And there is also plenty of energy currently banned from production onshore, too. The Department of Interior estimates onshore energy in the West and Alaska contains 31 billion carrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That 31 billion barrels of oil represents U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia for 50 years and the 231 trillion cubc feet of natural gas is enoug to supply all of America’s households for 46 years.
Then there is the granddaddy of them all: the oil shale in Green River Formation, which goes through Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. According to a RAND Corp. study, there are 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels worth of oil shale in the Green River Formation. That is more than triple the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. At $95 a barrel, it was not economically viable to develop these resources, but at $130 it definitely is. Furthermore, Shell Oil scientists have already conducted small-scale field tests that if replicated on a large scale would make developing the oil shale profitable at $20 a barrel. Are liberals in Congress anxious to see this oil help American consumers? No. Just last week they voted to extend their ban on oil shale development.
The other liberal objection to increased domestic energy production is that the additional supplies will not affect prices for a decade. We will let Jay Leno respond: “Democrats said it would not do any good because it would not produce oil for 10 years. You know, same thing they said 10 years ago.”
Quick Hits:
- A mile-long column of Iraqi military vehicles entered Sadr City in what the Iraqi government claims is the end of the Mahdi Army’s rule.
- A new compromise on Capitol Hill will allow federal district courts to review if telecommunication companies should be shielded from lawsuits punishing them for cooperating with surveillance of foreign targets after 9/11.
- President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan threatened on Sunday to send soldiers into Pakistan to fight militant groups operating in the border areas to attack Afghanistan.
- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday that he will support a merger between the nation’s sole satellite radio operators, XM and Sirius.
- Plans for a nuclear weapon that could be placed on a ballistic missile have been tracked to computers in Switzerland, Dubai, Malaysia and Thailand.
- Author: Conn Carroll
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June 16, 2008 Edgarjjohn, Cincinnati writes:
Please ask President Bush to show some leadership and enact the “Executive Order” to allow oil drillers to start exploring for oil in multiple known US reserves immediately. He has the power and the right to do this.
Yes, it may create some legal debate, but we need leadership in Washington…and President Bush can go down in history as a “proactive” leader, as opposed to a “passive” observer of a failed Congress.
This “Executive Order” will show leadership in Washington, and supersede Congress, which has voted against the last 10 bills before them to allow for exploration and refining of our US oil supply for the US market.
Fact: During WWII we supplied about 60% of our needs from US oil fields, and another 25% from our Allies….and this was a key strategic reason why we won the war….however, today we source only about 7% of our needs… and we are exposed to severe economic crisis, if we encounter an oil embargo, or worse yet, any major political unrest in the Middle East.
If President Bush would show leadership and enact the “Executive Order”, we would see many speculators and hedge funds dumping their future’s positions… in fear of the news of significant needed supply coming to the market from US oil fields.
We have a crisis in the US… of huge economic and security dimensions…and we can not survive the next 10 years with our oil fields drying up and to soon to only supplying less than 5% of our own needs.
Wake UP! This is economic war!
President Bush could significantly improve his legacy by showing unprecedented Leadership in a time when all Americans are suffering….and he has no repercussions to worry about since he will be out of office soon. The next President will thank him immensely, if he changes the equilibrium point of supply and demand, and thus cause fear in the pocketbooks of all speculators.
Ask everyone to send emails and make phone calls today asking for an “Executive Order” to trump Congress and their inability to solve a serious problem.