Unfortunately for now-President Obama, the reality of $4-$5-a-gallon gasoline is a much tougher sell to the general public. He’s put himself to work spinning the line that “speculators” are at fault for high prices, but the actual explanation is far more matter-of-fact. No new wells are being drilled and no new refineries have been built in decades. Gas prices have gone up 67 Percent since Barack Obama became president. That’s compared to a 7 percent increase under Bush in his first 26 months. That’s something even a community organizer should be able to understand it.
Asian demand for e
nergy continues to rise as nations in the far east region — oddly lacking in “stimulus” spending — continue to boom. Supply, meanwhile, has fallen off, not only as a consequence of the turmoil in Libya and other oil-producing countries, but also thanks to the Obama-ordered moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico — and the recently ordered moratorium on future drilling anywhere else off the American coastline.
What happened to his promise to wean America off foreign oil?
Obama and his minions have been chasing the green jobs dream for so long that it’s an instinct. They pompously suggest that Americans should trade in their current vehicles for pricey, government-approved matchbox cars, asserting that there’s “no quick fix” for high energy prices. History, and very recent history at that, indicates that they are misleading the American people.
Just this week, Shell Oil Company announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board – all Democrats – to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.
Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area.
“We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”
The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.
The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.
At stake is an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. That’s how much the U. S. Geological Survey believes is in the U.S. portion of the Arctic Ocean. For perspective, that represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed down the Trans Alaska pipeline throughout its 30-year history. That pipeline is getting dangerously low on oil. At 660,000 barrels a day, it’s carrying only one-third its capacity.
Production on the North Slope of Alaska is declining at a rate of about 7 percent a year. If the volume gets much lower, pipeline officials say they will have to shut it down. Alaska officials are blasting the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It’s driving investment and production overseas,” said Alaska’s DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan. “That doesn’t help the United States in any way, shape or form.”
The Environmental Appeals Board has four members: Edward Reich, Charles Sheehan, Kathie Stein and Anna Wolgast. All are registered Democrats and Kathie Stein was an activist attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. Members are appointed by the EPA administrator. Alaska’s Republican senator thinks it’s time to make some changes.
“EPA has demonstrated that they’re not competent to handle the process,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “So if they’re not competent to handle it, they need to get out of the way.”
Murkowski supported budget amendments that would have stripped the EPA of its oversight role in Arctic offshore drilling. The Interior Department issues air permits to oil companies working in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Obama administration’s de facto moratorium has led to a precipitous decline in U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. That prompted Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) to take action. His committee approved three new pieces of legislation with bipartisan support. The House could vote on the package next month.
Hastings said he proposed the bills as a response to repeated entreaties for help from those hurt by the president’s moratorium.
“There’s one [request] that I’ve heard over and over from the oil industry,” he said. “‘Give me some certainty, that’s all we want. Give me some certainty.’”
This is what his first bill, Putting the Gulf Back to Work, would do. The bill incorporates a proposal from Reps. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Jeff Landry (R-LA) that would require the administration to act on every drilling permit within 30 days.
The second piece of legislation requires the federal government to sell leases so Americans can benefit from vast untapped oil and energy stores owned by the United States. If there are no lease sales in 2011 — a very real possibility — “it will be first time since 1958,” Hastings said. He questioned the consistency of an administration that exalts energy independence while simultaneously cutting off this traditional method of increasing oil production.
Hastings’ final proposal seeks to implement a long-term plan to prevent future work stoppages in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposal requires a five-year plan that would require the sale of leases to target areas of the greatest known oil and gas reserves.
Like Hastings’ legislation, a similar proposal from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) aims to increase domestic energy production across America. The Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy and Deficit Reduction Act of 2011 — or the 3-D Act — would create more than 2 million jobs, $10 trillion in economic activity and $2 trillion in federal tax receipts, according to 30-year estimates.
The Vitter-Bishop proposal would mandate Outer Continental Shelf lease sales, open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, require action on stalled onshore permits and limit the time frame for environmental and judicial review, among other things.
In a March 30 speech in Washington, Mr. Obama announced his mandate that 100% of the federal vehicle fleet be “advanced technology” vehicles by 2015. This means that every vehicle in the federal fleet — some 600,000 currently — will have to be a hybrid or electric vehicle. In an extraordinary coincidence of the kind so common during the Age of Obama, General Electric — headed by Jeffrey Immelt, the chief of the president’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness — will contribute to the brave new “advanced technology” future by buying at least 12,000 Chevy Volts.
For taxpayers, this mandate means extraordinary and unnecessary additional costs. For example, the conventionally fueled Chevy Cruze, the platform on which the Volt is based, would cost approximately $17,000 per unit. For 100 vehicles, that’s $1,700,00. Replace those with the Volt at $41,000 per unit and the figure skyrockets to $4,100,000. It’s just too frightening to contemplate the cost of 600,000 Volts. Hybrid vehicles cost substantially more than comparable conventional vehicles. While it might be possible, with very conservative driving, to recoup that additional initial expense with money saved through higher mileage for some hybrids, the taxpayer will be forever in the hole for every Volt purchased.
This is the Obama Vision. We all will drive tiny, dangerous cars or ride bicycles to work. Just like the Chinese.
