Obama Lobbies to Continue War on Energy

March 8, 2012

Dems’ War on Energy is Alive and Well as President Obama Personally Calls to Block Keystone and Continues to Undermine an All-of-the-Above Energy Policy

President Obama is now personally calling senators to block the job-creating Keystone pipeline and send those jobs overseas to China.
Just yesterday, President Obama gave a speech on the economy that cleverly ignored the economic impact of the regulations created as part of the Democrats’ War on Energy.
Even with rising gas prices, the Democrats refuse to surrender in their War on Energy.

President Obama is now personally calling senators to block the job-creating Keystone pipeline and send those jobs overseas to China:

“OBAMA LOBBYING DEMS” TO REJECT KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE, AGAIN:“President Barack Obama is intervening in a Senate fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline and personally lobbying Democrats to reject an amendment calling for its construction, according to several sources familiar with the talks.”(Manu Raju, “Obama Lobbying Dems Over Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 3/7/2012)

OBAMA MAKING PERSONAL PHONE CALLS TO TOP DEMS OUT OF FEAR OF GIVING “ELECTION-YEAR FODDER” TO GOP, NEVER MIND THE JOBS AT STAKE: “The White House lobbying effort, including phone calls from the president to Democrats, signals that the vote could be close when it heads to the floor Thursday. The president is trying to defeat an amendment that would give election-year fodder to his Republican critics who have accused him of blocking a job-creating energy project at a time of high gas prices.” (Manu Raju, “Obama Lobbying Dems Over Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 3/7/2012)

A WEEK AGO, THE WHITE HOUSE WAS TRYING TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ON KEYSTONE PIPELINE, SUPPORTING PART OF IT WHILE “TRYING NOT TO ANGER ITS LIBERAL BASE BY APPROVING THE PIPELINE”: “The rapid response from White House spokesman Jay Carney underscores the political sensitivity of the proposed pipeline and Obama’s balancing act. The White House is trying not to anger its liberal base by approving the pipeline, but at the same time is publicly saying TransCanada should keep working on an alternative route through Nebraska.” (Darren Goode, “Keystone XL Start Welcomed By Obama,” Politico, 2/27/2012)

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY GOP “FORCED” OBAMA TO BLOCK KEYSTONE. YEAH, RIGHT: (“Carney: Republicans ‘Forced Us’ to Deny Keystone Pipeline,” Real Clear Politics, 2/27/2012)

BUT 66% OF AMERICANS 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)

CANADA WARNED IT WOULD TURN TO CHINA FOR OIL EXPORTS AFTER OBAMA’S KEYSTONE DECISION: “President Barack Obama’s decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports.” (Theophilis Arigitis and Jeremy Loon, “Obama Keystone Denial Prompts Canada to Focus on China,” Bloomberg, 1/19/2012)

Just yesterday, President Obama gave a speech on the economy that cleverly ignored the economic impact of the regulations created as part of the Democrats’ War on Energy:

“OBAMA IGNORES CRIPPLING EPA REG DURING SPEECH ON THE ECONOMY”: (Andrew Stiles, “Obama Ignores Crippling EPA Reg During Speech on the Economy,” The Washington Free Beacon, 3/7/2012)

OBAMA SPOKE YESTERDAY LESS THAN A MILE FROM FACTORY PAYING THE PRICE OF NEW REGULATIONS: “President Obama spoke on the economy Wednesday within walking distance of a manufacturing plant that faces a potentially crippling Environmental Protection Agency regulation.

“The Daimler Truck North America plant in Mount Holly, N.C., where Obama spoke, is less than a mile from a manufacturing facility operated by the National Gypsum Company that is subject to strict environmental rules under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a program that imposes hundreds of millions of dollars in administrative costs on businesses across the country.” (Andrew Stiles, “Obama Ignores Crippling EPA Reg During Speech on the Economy,” The Washington Free Beacon, 3/7/2012)

OBAMA MADE NO MENTION OF HOW HIS REGULATIONS WILL COST NORTH CAROLINA’S ECONOMY $700 MILLION TO COMPLY: “Obama’s remarks did not mention the myriad new regulations his administration, through the EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has imposed on the Tar Heel State.

“Based on the EPA’s own estimates, analysts at the American Action Forum (AAF) estimate that five major rules from the EPA and HHS will cost the state nearly $700 million to comply.

“The EPA’s new Utility MACT rule, for instance, is projected to cost the state more than $230 million alone, according to the agency’s own estimates.”(Andrew Stiles, “Obama Ignores Crippling EPA Reg During Speech on the Economy,” The Washington Free Beacon, 3/7/2012)

LAST WEEK THE THIRD LARGEST INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER IN AMERICA ANNOUNCED IT WOULD SHUT PLANTS BECAUSE OF EPA RULES:“GenOn Energy Inc. (GEN), the third-largest U.S. independent power producer by market value, expects to shut about 13 percent of its generating capacity by May 2015 because of environmental regulations.” (Jim Polson, “GenOn Will Shut Plants Through 2015 on Environmental Rules, Bloomberg, 2/29/2012)

Even with rising gas prices, the Democrats refuse to surrender in their War on Energy:

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 THIS WEEK SAID LOWERING GAS PRICES WAS NOT A GOAL FOR HIS DEPARTMENT: “COMMITTEE QUESTION: “But, is the overall goal to get our price lower?” SEC. STEVEN CHU: “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil…” (Remarks from Stephen Chu, U.S. House Of Representatives, Appropriations Committee, Hearing, 2/28/2012)

FLASHBACK TO 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)

SEN. MARY LANDREIU (D-LA): SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF OBAMA’S DRILLING MORATORIUM, NOT “BIG OIL COMPANIES”: “I want to say that, despite the administration’s arguments that are laid out, that you all are all guns blaring and green lights for drilling, the facts that I checked, and if you disagree tell me, only 21 permits for offshore drilling have been issued by this date. In 2010, there were 32 permits. I just left the annual conference of LOGA, which is Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Mr. Secretary, yesterday. They are beside themselves with not being able to get their permits processed and to answer you, Mr. Franken, let me just say Exxon and Shell may be making record profits but according to a study recently done by the Greater New Orleans, Inc., 41 percent of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, I’m not talking about Exxon and Shell that have operations all over the world, I’m talking about companies in the Gulf Coast, in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Let me tell you what the studies show about their profits: 41 percent of them are not making a profit at all, 70 percent have lost significant cash reserves, 46 have moved operations away from the Gulf, and 82 percent of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of this slow down.” (Remarks from Sen. Mary Landrieu,U.S. Senate Hearing, 2/28/2012)

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)

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)