Democrats’ Reptilian Record on American-Made Energy

As Gas Prices Strain Families and Job Creators, Dems Continue to Oppose American-Made Energy

Reports out Monday suggested that rising inflation caused by higher gas prices is putting a real strain on American families and threatens to challenge the weak economy:

INFLATION DUE TO RISING GAS PRICES IS CAUSING HIGHER FOOD PRICES:“Inflation is back, with higher prices for food and fuel hammering American consumers, and this time it really hurts.

“It’s not just that prices are rising — it’s that wages aren’t. …

“And the particular prices that are rising are for products that people encounter most frequently in their daily lives and have the least flexibility to avoid. For the most part, it’s not computers and cars that are getting more expensive, it’s gasoline, which is up 19 percent in the past year, ground beef, up 10 percent, and butter, up 23 percent.” (Neil Irwin, “Inflation Inflicting Pain, As Wages Fail to Keep Pace With Price Hikes,” The Washington Post, 5/9/2011)

NATIONAL GAS PRICE AVERAGE: $3.96/GALLON. (“Daily Fuel Gauge Report,” AAA,Accessed 5/9/2011)

Meanwhile, Democrats must be hoping that Americans won’t notice their record of both calling for higher gas prices and actively undermining domestic energy production:

DEMOCRATS VOTE EN MASSE AGAINST MORE ENERGY PRODUCTION:

147 DEMS VOTE AGAINST GOP EFFORT TO EXPAND AMERICAN-MADE ENERGY: Final Roll Call Vote: 266-149. (Roll Call 298, Clerk of the U.S. House, 5/5/2011)

OBAMA AGENCY ISSUES LIZARD CONSERVATION RULES THAT THREATEN TO SHUT DOWN OIL IN TEXAS:

“Frustration is swelling among residents and lawmakers in one of the most productive oil and natural gas basins in the nation, and it’s all because federal wildlife managers have proposed endangered species protections for a small lizard.”

“From Midland, Texas, to Artesia, N.M., hundreds of people have turned out in recent weeks at rallies and public meetings to oppose a listing to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard. …

“Oil and gas industry groups worry that listing the lizard would take thousands of acres in the Permian Basin out of production. They say that could lead to lost jobs, fewer royalties and less tax revenue, higher gasoline prices and less energy security as the nation looks to wean itself from foreign oil supplies.

“The Permian Basin produces almost 20 percent of the nation’s crude oil. The region’s reserves are second only to Alaska’s.” (Susan Montoya Bryan, “List Lizard, Lose Jobs, Say Critics in Oil-Gas Land,” Associated Press, 4/28/2011)

WHILE OBAMA’S EPA SABOTAGES ANOTHER MAJOR DRILLING PROJECT IN ALASKA:

“Shell Oil Company has 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 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.’” (Dan Springer, “Energy in America: EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans,” Fox News, 4/25/2011)
AND OBAMA CONTINUES TO LAG ON THE ISSUANCE OF NEW PERMITS:

NUMBER OF PERMITS ISSUED BY OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THIS YEAR “PALE[S] IN COMPARISON” TO PREVIOUS YEARS: “But the 10 new wells that have received permits from the newly created U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so far this year pale in comparison to the rate of permitting in prior years, according to a Reuters analysis of permits. The pace of government-issued permits so far in 2011 is about a third the rate for the same period in each of the previous five years, 40 versus an average of 119 in 2006 through 2010.” (Kristen Hays and Bruce Nichols, “Analysis: After BP spill, U.S. drill permits slow to a trickle,” Reuters, 4/18/2011)

AFTER A MONTHS-LONG “DE FACTO” MORATORIUM ON NEW DRILLING:

19,000 JOBS, $4.4 BILLION IN OUTPUT LOST DUE TO OBAMA ENERGY BLOCKADE. (Testimony of Joseph R. Mason, “The American Energy Initiative,” U.S. Energy and Commerce Subcommittee On Energy and Power, 3/17/2011)

360,000 BARRELS/DAY OF PRODUCTION LOST: “Because of the moratorium and de facto moratorium, the United States has lost an estimated 360,000 barrels per day of oil production from the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and 2011. The Obama administration also keeps postponing the approval of an oil pipeline from Canada. The administration cannot seem to figure out the environmental implications of a pipeline despite the fact that there are more than 50,000 miles of oil pipelines already in the United States.  And instead of drilling here, the Obama Administration is promoting offshore oil production in Brazil and placing the United States into an air combat situation with Libya, a member of the Organization of Oil Producing States (OPEC).  It seems that Mr. Obama’s administration will go to lengths to obtain oil supplies from everywhere but the United States and Canada.” (“The Obama Administration Is Slowly Reissuing Offshore Oil Permits,” Institute of Energy Research, 3/23/2011)

WHICH ALL MAKES SENSE IF WE REMEMBER OBAMA’S RECORD OF ADVOCATING HIGHER GAS PRICES:

OBAMA IN 2008: “UNDER MY PLAN…ENERGY RATES WILL NECESSARILY SKYROCKET.” “When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, you know,under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (Remarks from then-Sen. Barack Obama, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 2008)

OBAMA: HIGH GAS PRICES NOT A PROBLEM IF “GRADUAL ADJUSTMENT”:“I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing. But if we take some steps right now to help people make the adjustment, first of all by putting more money into their pockets, but also by encouraging the market to adapt to these new circumstances more quickly, particularly US automakers, then I think ultimately, we can come out of this stronger and have a more efficient energy policy than we do right now.” (Jim Geraghty, “Obama: On Gas Prices, ‘I would Have Preferred a Gradual Adjustment,’” National Review, 6/11/2008)