THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 248, September 28, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHY AMERICANS CAN'T GET U.S. OIL
By Alan Caruba
DEMOCRATS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, & U.S. DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCTION: WHY AMERICA IS SO DEPENDENT ON
FOREIGN OIL -- THE POLITICAL ALLIANCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLITICIANS & THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
MOVEMENT -- THE CONTINUING EFFORTS OF DEMOCRATS TO UNDERMINE U.S. DOMESTIC OIL COMPANIES -- OPPOSITION
OF CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TO ALLOWING THE OIL COMPANIES TO EXPLORE & DRILL FOR OIL IN ALASKA'S ARCTIC
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, OFFSHORE UNDER THE ATLANTIC, PACIFIC, & ARCTIC CONTINENTAL SHELVES, &
ELSEWHERE IN THE U.S.A. -- THE 2008 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS & THE NEED FOR THE VOTERS TO REMOVE THE
DEMOCRATS FROM CONTROL OF THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS -- THE NEED TO TAKE ON THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS &
ELIMINATE THEIR ABILITY TO WRECK THE AMERICAN ECONOMY & PLACE THE HEALTH & GENERAL WELFARE OF THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY
FULL STORY:
Aside from the fact the Democrats in Congress are trying to fool Americans into believing they are “lifting” the ban on
offshore exploration and drilling for oil, the opposition to our domestic oil companies by both Democrats and radical
environmentalist groups lies at the heart of why America is so dependent on foreign oil.
At last report, Democrats decided to allow the quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
to expire. That’s not the same as lifting the ban. Moreover, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Democrat - Maryland)
is on record saying that, if the Democrats retain control of Congress, restoring the ban “will be a top priority for
discussion next year.”
So much for socalled “energy independence.” When Democrats say that, they are talking about wind and solar power,
and biofuels, not oil, natural gas, and coal.
I cringe every time I hear the Democrats attack “Big Oil” because, as Michael J. Economides, Co-editor of Energy
Tribune, points out in the current issue, other than some small companies, there are just three large U.S. oil
companies left; Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. There are three other Western oil companies headquartered
outside the U.S.A. -- BP, Shell, and Total. Other than these six, all the others are national or state-controlled.
As Economides points out, “The truth is that, even with record profits (but by no means record returns on investment),
Big Oil is in a heap of trouble. And, as Big Oil goes, so goes America.”
Data from the office of Congressman John Shadegg (Republican - Arizona) reveals how Big Green is trying to throttle
any hope of Americans benefiting from our own vast oil reserves. In this case, it is 487 leases in the Chukchi Sea Sale
193 in February, 2008. Every single one of the leases has been challenged in court.
Here are the names of those environmentalist organizations that don’t want you to pay less at the pump: The Center for
Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club. There are others, but these are the
leaders in the effort to keep oil reserves off northern Alaska from ever being tapped. These are the groups that
challenged the entire 2007-2023 five-year national outer continental shelf leasing program!
When the Bureau of Land Management issued leases in New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the Western
Environmental Law Center and the Wild Earth Guardians, preemptively, on July 1, 2008, challenged all 78 leases.
It is instructive that, when President George W. Bush began to talk about lifting the ban on offshore drilling, the global
price of oil dropped precipitously. As of this writing, it has not begun to rise and, if U.S. oil companies are permitted to
explore and drill (which was the purpose of those leases), the global price of oil will not only remain at current levels,
but it will drop even more.
It is the Democratic Party and radical environmentalist organizations that stand between the discovery and provision of
new oil and natural gas. It is the Democratic Party that is trying to push through a bogus “energy” bill that would put
billions in the hands of those involved in “clean energy” projects that would barely provide the electricity America
needs now, nor future needs.
The Chukchi Sea is offshore of northern Alaska, one of several seas that border the Arctic Ocean. The potential of oil in
the Arctic is such that Russia is making noise about extending its claims in the Chukchi Sea.
If Congress should ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, the United States would lose its claim to the vast reserves that
potentially exist in the Arctic, and you don’t need three guesses to figure out which political party supports ratification.
That would be high on the agenda if Congress continues to be controlled by the Democrats and if Senator Barack
Hussein Obama is elected President.
As outrageous as the effort is to stop exploration and extraction of oil offshore of Alaska is, the fact remains that
environmentalist groups devote themselves to stopping Americans from having access to any kind of energy source.
Even with the expiration of the offshore ban, you can be sure environmentalist groups will challenge in court every
single effort to access our national reserves of oil and natural gas, offshore or on. The now classic example is their
opposition to drilling for oil in Alaska’s ANWR despite the potential for billions more barrels of oil.
An offshore, floating terminal that would be 20 miles east of Manasquan, New Jersey, has been proposed by Exxon
Mobil. Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) tankers would use the terminal to link to the shore with an undersea pipeline. A
Calgary-based conglomerate, Excalibur, wants to build an anchorage 15 miles off Asbury Park for a comparable pipeline.
The two projects will be officially proposed to the U.S. Maritime Administration and Coast Guard next year. An
environmentalist group calling itself Clean Ocean Action has mobilized to insure that neither project comes to fruition.
The United States currently has only two offshore LNG facilities, one off Boston, and the other is 116 miles off the
coast of Louisiana. During hurricane season, the latter is subject to being shut down.
Instead, environmentalists in New Jersey, while opposing LNG terminals, love the idea of putting hundreds of wind
turbines offshore, despite the fact that this “clean energy” source is unreliable, would require back-up from onshore
traditional plants generating electricity, and could only be built because they would be heavily subsidized with
taxpayer and energy consumer dollars.
In the comic strip “Pogo,” the main character uttered the now famous line, “We have met the enemy and they are us.”
We have met the enemy and they are the environmentalist groups that are determined to keep the citizens of the
United States from having access to affordable energy, no matter what or who produces it.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, & Special Interest Groups
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s most recent book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press. Books
previously authored by Caruba include A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam, The United Nations Versus the United States: The
UN's Plan to Control Planet Earth, and America: A Nation Without Borders -- A Pocket Guide to Immigration Issues.
© Alan Caruba 2008
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity