The ‘Gang of 10‘ energy plan being sold by a bipartisan group of Senators claims to be a ‘compromise‘ that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) calls “a step in the right direction.” But is it? Does the bill really make an honest attempt to develop more of our domestic energy supplies? The House All of the Above energy plan includes permanent tax breaks for wind and solar power, as well as lifting oil and natural gas exploration bans in the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The …
The New York Times has repeatedly asserted on its editorial page that lifting the bans on oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be resisted since they would “make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump.” Well, the NYT’s editorial writers should really try reading NYT’s hard news where we learn today: Oil production has failed to catch up with surging consumption in recent years, a disparity that propelled oil prices to records this year. Despite the recent decline, …
The left is still entirely flummoxed about how to respond to conservative dominance on energy issues. The Center for American Progress’ Matthew Yglesias has been reduced to absurdly caricaturing Republican policy proposals. Yglesias writes: [I]t’s worth pointing out that at today’s version of the House GOP’s now-daily “Let’s Drill Everywhere!” press conference, Rep. John Shinkus (R-IL) observed that “if drilling is good, then drilling and mining is better.” And, indeed, it’s true that if we think we should give zero consequences to the environmental, economic, and public health harms caused …
Defending his call for the United States to adopt more European like laws mandating centrally planned levels of energy efficiency, The Center for American Progress’ Matt Yglesias writes: What would be desirable would be to … reduce America’s economic vulnerability to supply shocks associated with political instability in the world’s major oil- and gas-exporting regions. One good way to do this would be to take measures to reduce the energy intensity of America’s society and economy. When such measures are proposed, the right typically responds that any such measures would …
Barack Obama released his “New Energy for America” plan today during his speech at Michigan State University. His entire energy plan is laid out here. Relieving America from its foreign oil addiction was the gist of his speech: Without a doubt, this addiction is one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced – from the gas prices that are wiping out your paychecks and straining businesses to the jobs that are disappearing from this state; from the instability and terror bred in the Middle East …
This Sunday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi again promised to use all her power to prevent the House from voting on any measure that would allow new oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf. A majority of Americans support new oil exploration in these regions. Pelosi has tried to prevent the House from even debating whether or not to increase domestic energy production, but this past Friday a small group of conservatives took over the House floor after Democrats voted to go on a five-week paid …
Today’s New York Times carries a story titled “Strong Economy Propels Brazil to World Stage” and reports: It has greatly diversified its industrial base, has huge potential to expand a booming agricultural sector into virgin fields and holds a tremendous pool of untapped natural resources. New oil discoveries will thrust Brazil into the ranks of the global oil powers within the next decade. … Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, shocked the oil world in November when it announced that its Tupi deepwater field offshore of Rio de Janeiro could hold …
Critics of expanding domestic oil drilling into currently restricted areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the 85% of our territorial waters that are off-limits often dismiss the extra energy as a “drop in the bucket” — too small to ever make much difference in the global price of oil. But daily events strongly suggest otherwise. It is remarkable how much the price of a barrel of crude changes from day to day. Moves of one or more dollars per barrel are common, even on relatively slow …
Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) stopped by the weekly Conservative Bloggers Briefing at Heritage today, to talk about her recent trip with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) on his “American Energy Tour” to Colorado and Alaska. Bachmann noted that the proposed energy exploration sought in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is confined to a small 2,000-acre lot “that is comparable to a postage stamp sitting on a football field.” She stressed that the Eneregy Information Administration estimates that there is 10.4 billion barrels of oil in ANWR that would create …
A picture is worth a thousand words – or in this case ten billion barrels. A group of ten House Republicans just did something few ecotourists have ever done – they visited Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and saw first-hand the 2,000 or so acres of the 19.6 million acre refuge believed to lie on top of America’s single largest untapped source of oil. Anti-drilling activists have characterized this area as an environmental jewel, but the pictures of this expedition show a bleak, flat, nearly treeless expanse of no …
