At this State of the Union address, President Obama proudly stated that “American oil production is the highest it’s been in eight years” and declared that his Administration would “open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” While President Obama spoke favorably of the role that oil and gas development play in America, the President’s and his Administration’s actions don’t match with his words. There are several areas where the President and his Administration are unreasonably hindering access to more oil and gas for Americans …
Over the years our federal government has implemented a number of bad policies to reduce dependence on foreign oil. The latest flavor-of-the-month policy is the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act, which would give targeted tax credits to produce natural gas vehicles and heavy-duty trucks. The problem with these plans is that the government picks winners and losers in the marketplace, wastes taxpayer dollars, diverts resources away from more productive use, and does little to reduce dependence on foreign oil. As Heritage’s David Kreutzer points …
Remember that Beatles song about the taxman? “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street.” Well, that’s just about what the Transportation Secretary has proposed. Bad ideas never die in Washington. They don’t even fade away. As proof, see the third effort in the last two years by the Obama Administration and members of Congress to tax us on every mile we drive. A larger issue is that the Administration ignores the core problem: using the federal highway program for wasteful spending projects. The so-called vehicle miles tax (VMT) …
You could substitute a newspaper article from June 2008 with today’s gas price stories, and no one would know the difference. The story is the same: politicians blaming speculators and big oil while ignoring supply and demand issues and the impact of a weak dollar on oil prices. It’s been easy for politicians to point the finger of blame at oil companies since the Gulf spill—although a large majority of Americans support offshore drilling. When politicians attack big oil, it’s important to remember who owns these companies and where that …
The same Washington press corps that hammered President George W. Bush relentlessly when prices were still well under $3 a gallon—well before the $4 a gallon peak, which lasted only six weeks in 2008—have given President Obama a pass thus far on the recklessness of his energy policy. In fact, in the first two years of his presidency, as gas prices steadily rose to over $3 a gallon, the press corps never asked the President about gas prices in any of his press briefings. Even when he called a press …
Maybe President Obama should start investigating John F. Kennedy’s shooting in his spare time, because he’s not going to find a satisfying conspiracy in gas prices. Better yet, he could pick up an economics textbook and turn to the chapter on Supply and Demand. His finger-pointing at speculators and formation of a gas task force to investigate prices at the pump ignore the real cause of rising gas prices. Further, President Obama’s blame of speculators is a costly barrier to fixing bad government policy that restricts oil and gas exploration …
The gas price headlines aren’t looking so good for Americans. Honolulu is a penny away from record gas prices. Chicago gas nears $5 a gallon. Nationally, $4 a gallon average gas may be only be a month away. There’s something that President Obama could do to help solve the problem but, instead, he’s spending his time laying blame. In a speech today in suburban Virginia, he said there’s plenty of supply to meet the world’s demand for oil, placing the blame for the high prices on speculators: The problem is … …
No matter how hard the government tries, it just won’t ever be as effective as the free market is in satisfying consumer demand. Want proof? Take a look at what the federal government is doing to lure people into buying more expensive, less convenient plug-in electric cars. Since little demand currently exists in the market for electric cars, the government offers a tax credit of $7,500 to those who purchase vehicles like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. And even with the tax credit, electric cars aren’t flying off …
Nearly a year ago, President Obama delivered a speech calling for an increase in oil and gas production. Since then, he has canceled more production than he has allowed. Today he delivered a speech at Georgetown University outlining a plan to cut oil imports by one-third by 2025. President Obama said when gasoline was $4 a gallon, “you had a lot of slogans and gimmicks and outraged politicians waving three-point plans for two-dollar gas—when none of it would really do anything to solve the problem.” Then he offered his own …
As gas prices hit $4 per gallon, White House spokesman Jay Carney assured Americans on Monday that the administration is well aware of the toll high fuel costs are taking on American families. So what’s President Obama’s solution to America’s pain? According to White House chief of staff Bill Daley, the administration may tap into the nation’s oil safety net – the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) – in order to bring down the cost of fuel. Big mistake. While most folks want to pay less at the pump, dipping into …
