Democrats Can’t Hide Their Anti-Energy Record

As Gas Prices Rise, Democrats Struggle to Rewrite Their History of Blocking American Energy Independence

• As American families continued to struggle with the dramatic rise in gas prices last week, Democrats were engaged in an elaborate effort to rewrite their well-established record of outright hostility to developing America’s energy resources.
• The Democrats’ desperate effort to deflect blame can’t change the fact that they have already destroyed countless energy jobs and contributed to higher gas prices by sabotaging offshore energy exploration.
• Moreover, this is to say nothing of the Democrats’ recent decision to block the construction of the Keystone pipeline, a project that commands broad support in the American public, would create thousands of shovel-ready jobs and increase American energy independence.

As American families continued to struggle with the dramatic rise in gas prices last week, Democrats were engaged in an elaborate effort to rewrite their well-established record of outright hostility to developing America’s energy resources:

GAS PRICES $1.71 PER GALLON HIGHER UNDER OBAMA: (“Petroleum & Other Liquids,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, Accessed 2/26/2012)

“OBAMA MOVES TO DEFLECT BLAME FOR HIGH GAS PRICES”: (Marc Caupto, “Obama Moves to Deflect Blame for High Gas Prices,” McClatchy News, 2/23/2012)

AND TRIES TO TAKE CREDIT FOR BUSH-ERA ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: “The president also boasted that ‘under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.’ Unmentioned by Obama: nearly all of that drilling was approved under his predecessor, President George W. Bush.” (Marc Caupto, “Obama Moves to Deflect Blame for High Gas Prices,”McClatchy News, 2/23/2012)

PRESIDENT OBAMA TRIES “TO DIVERT BLAME AND PREPARE VOTERS FOR HIGHER COSTS” FROM GASOLINE: “As Republican presidential candidates toss barbs at Barack Obama over expensive gasoline, the U.S. president and his team are going on the offensive with a strategy to divert blame and prepare voters for higher costs.” (Jeff Mason, “Obama Goes on Offense Over High Gasoline Prices,” Reuters, 2/23/2012)

OBAMA WANTED ENERGY PRICES TO “NECESSARILY SKYROCKET” UNDER HIS CAP-AND-TRADE PLAN: ” ‘Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’ Obama told the Chronicle. ‘Coal-powered plans, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plans were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (Catherine Richert, “Pence Claims that Obama said Energy Costs Will Skyrocket with a Cap-and-Trade Plan,” PolitiFact.com, 6/11/2009)

ENERGY SECRETARY STEPHEN CHU IN SEPTEMBER 2008: “SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO FIGURE HOW TO BOOST THE PRICE OF GASOLINE TO THE LEVELS IN EUROPE”: ” ‘Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,’ Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.” (Neil King, Jr. and Stephen Power, “Times Tough for Energy Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/12/2008)

The Democrats’ desperate effort to deflect blame can’t change the fact that they have already destroyed countless energy jobs and contributed to higher gas prices by sabotaging offshore energy exploration:

WSJ: “OBAMA HAS SEEN THE SUN RISE AND IS CROWING LIKE A ROOSTER THAT HE MADE IT HAPPEN”: “The reality is that most of the increase in U.S. oil and gas production has come despite the Obama Administration. It is flowing from the shale boom, which is the result of private technological advances and investment. Mr. Obama has seen the energy sun rise and is crowing like a rooster that he made it happen.” (Editorial, ” ‘Stupid’ and Oil Prices,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/24/2012)

RECENT ISSUANCE OF NEW LEASES AT ONE-THIRD OF HISTORICAL AVERAGE: “According to the Greater New Orleans Gulf Permits Index for January 31, over the previous three months the feds issued an average of three deep-water drilling permits a month compared to the historical average of seven. Over the same three months, the feds approved an average of 4.7 shallow-water permits a month, compared to the historical average of 14.7.” (Editorial, ” ‘Stupid’ and Oil Prices,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/24/2012)

OFFSHORE LEASING MUCH MORE DIFFICULT, SLOWER UNDER OBAMA POLICIES: “Approval of an offshore drilling plan now takes 92 days, 31 more than the historical average. And so far in 2012, an average of 23% of all drilling plans have been approved, compared to the average of 73.4%.” (Editorial, ” ‘Stupid’ and Oil Prices,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/24/2012)

OBAMA MORATORIUM ON GULF DRILLING “TAKING ITS TOLL” AND “MIGHT AS WELL STILL BE IN EFFECT”: “Small- and medium-size businesses serving Louisiana’s energy industry are shedding employees, dipping into personal savings or moving elsewhere to stay afloat. The administration’s war on fossil fuels is taking its toll.

“The federal six-month moratorium on drilling that was issued in May 2010, after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, has been officially lifted, but it might as well still be in effect.” (“Gulf Deepwater Drilling Ban’s Hidden Victims,” Investor’s Business Daily, 1/31/2012)

GULF BUSINESSES FRET THAT “PERMITORIUM” REMAINS IN PLACE: “They’re calling it a ‘permitorium’ caused by stricter regulations that are allowing gulf drilling, but at a snail’s pace, in both deep and shallow water.” (Katie Moore, “New Study: Small Businesses Hit Hardest by Drilling Delays,” WWL TV, 1/31/2012)

OBAMA’S MORATORIUM ON OFFSHORE DRILLING SHRANK PRODUCTION IN THE GULF OF MEXICO: “But that same report provides ammunition for Republicans, because it predicts that in the short term, oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Obama administration placed a moratorium on new deep-water exploratory drilling after the Gulf oil spill, will show a decline in 2011 and this year before rebounding later.” (Dina Cappiello, “Fact Check: Obama, GOP Spin Recent Energy Stats,” Associated Press, 2/5/2012)

OBAMA HAS RESCINDED SEVERAL LEASES FOR OIL EXPLORATION: “Republicans and the oil and gas industry focus on federal lands, because that’s where the government controls access and permitting to drill. There, Obama’s record is mixed. … Soon after Obama took office, the Interior Department rescinded 77 leases in Utah because of their close proximity to national parks, later reinstating 17 of them.

“Then weeks before the 2010 Gulf oil spill, Obama said he would consider expanding drilling off the Virginia coast and Alaska, only to scrap or delay those plans after the spill. And just last week the Interior Department, after completing a preliminary environmental review, said it would offer up thousands fewer acres for oil shale development in three Western states than President George W. Bush had.” (Dina Cappiello, “Fact Check: Obama, GOP Spin Recent Energy Stats,” Associated Press, 2/5/2012)

Moreover, this is to say nothing of the Democrats’ recent decision to block the construction of the Keystone pipeline, a project that commands broad support in the American public, would create thousands of shovel-ready jobs and increase American energy independence:

NEW PEW POLL: 66% SUPPORT KEYSTONE APPROVAL: “The Pew Research Center poll released Thursday finds 66 percent who have heard about the issue say the proposed pipeline to bring oil sands from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries should be approved, while 23 percent say it shouldn’t.”(Ben Geman, “Poll Shows Support for Keystone Pipeline, Environmental Regulations,” The Hill, 2/23/2012)

“THE ANTI-JOBS PRESIDENT” REJECTS JOB-CREATING KEYSTONE PIPELINE: (Editorial, “The Anti-Jobs President,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/19/2012)

GREEN GROUPS THREATENED TO ABANDON OBAMA IF HE APPROVED KEYSTONE: “Environmental groups have been protesting the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries, and there have been rumblings that greens would abandon Obama next fall if he approved it.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

NATIONAL JOURNAL ANALYSIS: “U.S. ECONOMY MISSED OUT ON CREATING UP TO A QUARTER-MILLION JOBS” IN 2011 BECAUSE IT “LACKED [ENERGY] INFRASTRUCTURE”: “The U.S. economy missed out on creating up to a quarter-million jobs this year because it lacked the infrastructure to capitalize on a rare divergence in global oil prices, a National Journal analysis shows.” (Jim Tankersley, “A Crude Hit to the Recovery,” National Journal, 11/29/2011)

INCREASING ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH KEYSTONE XL WOULD LIMIT PRICE SPIKES IN FUTURE: “There’s no evidence that the oil industry manipulated the price spread to boost refining profits; the companies just appear to be benefiting from the nation’s inability to move cheaper oil around freely. Energy industry groups say expanding America’s pipeline infrastructure – including potential Obama administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil south from Canada – would minimize the odds of another wide price split in the future.” (Jim Tankersley, “A Crude Hit to the Recovery,” National Journal, 11/29/2011)