THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 96, April 5, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
A FORMULA FOR FAILURE
By Alan Caruba
THE HIGH-TAX & ANTI-ENERGY POLICY PROPOSALS OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: A DEVASTATING ATTACK
ON AMERICA'S OIL & NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY & ON AMERICAN ENERGY USERS -- U.S. DOMESTIC OIL & NATURAL GAS
PRODUCERS TO BE TAXED & REGULATED OUT OF EXISTENCE -- AMERICA TO BE MADE FAR MORE DEPENDENT ON FOREIGN
PETROLEUM SOURCES -- AMERICANS TO BE FACED WITH MUCH HIGHER ENERGY & LIVING COSTS -- THE NATIONAL
INTERESTS & GENERAL WELFARE OF THE U.S.A. TO BE PLACED IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY
FULL STORY:
Oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, along with Venezuela, will grow rich, while Americans
will be faced with high costs for gasoline, diesel fuel, motor and heating oil, and everything else that depends on oil
-- for example, plastic, house paint, asphalt, lubricants, solvents, polyolefin wax, polyester fabric, and even mineral oil
and Vaseline.
Meanwhile, oil producers in America, large and small, will take a financial beating. If you don’t like living in a modern,
advanced and industrialized society, you will favor this. If you think Americans consume too much, drive too much
and deserve to be punished for it, you will favor this.
Recently, Barry Russell, the President of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, released a statement in
which he said, “President Obama delivered a devastating blow to the American oil and natural gas industry by
proposing an astonishing $30 billion tax increase (as part of his FY 2010 budget) on American energy producers, most
of whom are small businesses.”
“Ninety percent of the oil and natural gas wells developed in the United States," states Russell, "are developed by
small, independent businesses — not socalled ‘Big Oil’ — so tax increases hurt these companies most.” It also, of
course, hurts any prospect for the discovery and production of new sources of oil and natural gas in America.
In a world where more oil and natural gas is required by developing nations such as India and China, the Obama
administration proposes:
(1) A repeal of expensing of intangible drilling costs; a repeal of percentage depletion that allows for the depreciation
of existing small, barely economic wells;
(2) A repeal of the marginal well tax credit, a safety net for wells which produce small amounts of oil and gas that,
collectively, supply almost 20% of the nation’s oil and 12% of its gas;
(3) A repeal of the enhanced oil recovery credit that allows industry to get more energy from wells that are depleted,
instead of drilling new wells;
(4) Increases the costs of geological and geophysical amortization costs involving the high cost of doing seismic and
other high-tech surveys;
(5) An excise tax on Gulf of Mexico production;
(6) And a repeal of the manufacturing tax deduction, a provision given to every other American manufacturer and which
allows independent oil and natural gas producers to put more money into new energy projects.
It is a plan to destroy the American oil and natural gas industry, and, with it, the nation’s economy.
Right now, however, the Obama administration has installed an “energy team” that is completely opposed to the
development of any energy resources in America, from offshore and ANWR oil to coal mining or the construction of
coal-fired plants to generate electricity. Coal currently produces 50% of the nation’s electricity.
Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy, is on record saying, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of
gasoline to the levels in Europe.” It is $8 a gallon there.
Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, the agency that administers energy leasing on federal lands and most offshore
areas, has a long record of opposition to such leasing of oil, natural gas, and coal exploration and extraction. He has
already nullified recently awarded leases for natural gas drilling on federal land in Utah. Salazar is responsible for
legislation blocking the development of shale oil.
Obama’s science advisor, John Holdren, out-does Al Gore with predictions of global warming calamities. Back in the
1970s, he was worrying whether mankind would survive the “threat of making the planet too cold.”
Meanwhile, Wall Street is watching investment drop like a stone as Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury,
testifies that U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks
because their businesses contribute to global warming!
This attack on energy companies and access to energy resources in America is a formula for failure.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
The Earth's Natural History, Global Climate Changes,
& the Future of Human Life & Civilization on the Planet:
Science, Ideology, & Public Policy
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alan Caruba is a veteran business, science and political 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 2009
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