Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) announced today he would block the confirmation of Dr. Scott Doney to be chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration due to “concerns over scientific integrity at federal agencies and the White House.” These concerns stem from the recent Gulf offshore drilling moratorium and the ongoing lag in permit issuance since the ban was lifted in October. In a letter sent to President Obama today, Vitter characterizes it “as a continuing de facto moratorium.” Vitter also plans to hold a hearing before the Senate …
Just one day after meeting with the oil and gas industry in Houma, La., last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled the Obama administration’s “Smart from the Start” initiative to speed up the permitting process. Only this wasn’t permitting for offshore oil drilling, but wind farms off of the East Coast. “To fully harness the economic and energy benefits of our nation’s vast Atlantic wind potential,” Salazar said, “we need to implement a smart permitting process that is efficient, thorough, and unburdened by needless red tape.” If only Salazar would …
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar traveled to Louisiana on Monday to meet with oil and gas executives whose industry has been suffering from a “de facto” drilling ban since the government’s moratorium was lifted. Both of the state’s senators said Salazar failed to adequately address the core issues causing the logjam. Salazar’s trip to Houma to meet with industry leaders was made in exchange for Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) lifting of her hold on Jack Lew, President Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget. The state’s other senator, …
Last week the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based free-market advocacy group, filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement on the grounds it violates federal antitrust laws and is unconstitutional. The tobacco MSA is the result of 46 state attorneys general striking a deal with the four major tobacco companies in 1998 to settle Medicaid lawsuits over tobacco-related health care costs. Tobacco companies agreed to fork over $246 billion to the states over 25 years and adhere to restrictions on advertising, marketing …
The deepwater drilling moratorium ended three weeks ago, but it could be months before the federal government issues its first new permit. In a meeting last week with members of the National Ocean Industries Association, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich was vague when asked when his agency would issue a new deepwater permit. According to Oil & Gas Journal, he simply said he hoped it could happen before the end of the year. Deepwater drilling permits came to a halt after the Deepwater …
With the 1997 Kyoto Protocol provisions set to expire in 2012, U.N. climate change officials are scrambling to hold nations to a renewal of the treaty, while developed countries continue to point to exemptions for developing countries as evidence of its worthlessness. This conflict between developed nations and developing nations tanked last year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and just might have the same effect at this year’s conference in Cancun in December. Americans for Prosperity will be working to ensure that it does. AFP is a national grassroots …
Since the beginning of the Obama administration, the federal government has steadily increased the number of jobs transferred from private contractors to the civil service. Insourcing was supposed to save money, but the results tell a different story. The effort stems from a March 4, 2009, administration memorandum on government contracting. President Obama described this initiative as, “…reforms in how government does business, which will save the American people up to $40 billion each year.” But would it really save money to increase the number of federal government employees at …
According to a recent White House video explaining the administration’s opposition to extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee claims: “If you ask objective economists and analysts around the country about what is effective you will find that everyone agrees that these giant tax cuts for very high income people are the least effective thing that we can do to get the economy growing.” Everyone agrees? If your definition of objective economists is limited to the White House’s economic team, then perhaps this …
Shallow-water rig workers and those in industries unrelated to oil drilling are losing their jobs and being denied access to relief funds because of what Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) calls a “de facto shallow-water drilling ban.” Nearly $1 billion is going to Gulf Coast industries that are suffering in the aftermath of the BP oil spill, but many workers losing their jobs due to the drilling ban, imposed by the Obama administrations’ Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, are not eligible. BP’s $20 billion relief fund for those affected by the Gulf …
Rampant government spending is out of control. The federal government is spending at a rate of $112,000 per second. Billion dollar programs are driving up U.S. debt to unheard-of levels. Now average Americans are telling Washington to hit the brakes. Following the passage of Obamacare, a coalition of taxpayers, women, families, small business owners and public policy groups concerned with the spending crisis formed Spending Revolt. They hit the road in their tour bus and are asking the people from all across the fruited plain to join them in telling …
