THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 238, September 21, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
SPEAKER WOULD "SAVE THE PLANET"
WITH HIGHER GAS PRICES
By Dennis T. Avery
HOUSE DEMOCRATS & THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS: DEMOCRATS IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, DETERMINED TO MAINTAIN THEIR
POLITICAL ALLIANCE WITH THE ENVIRONMENTALIST MOVEMENT & CONTINUE SUPPORTING ITS POLICY AGENDA --
PELOSI'S INTENTION TO PREVENT OIL DRILLING IN CONTINENTAL SHELF AREAS THOUGHT TO CONTAIN ECONOMICALLY
RECOVERABLE PETROLEUM RESERVES -- PELOSI REFUSING TO CONSIDER THE ENERGY NEEDS & ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE -- PUSHING ENERGY & REGULATORY POLICIES THAT WILL MAKE GASOLINE, DIESEL FUEL, OIL,
NATURAL GAS, & COAL TOO EXPENSIVE TO BURN
FULL STORY:
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has changed her mind. She will allow a vote on drilling for
America’s offshore oil potential after all — sort of.
To paraphrase the old saying, however, “A woman convinced against her will is of the same opinion still.” Pelosi’s first
reaction to the public’s drilling demands was:
“We’ve got a planet to save. Nothing less is at stake,
other than civilization as we know it.”
Mrs. Pelosi represents the most Liberal city in America, and she wants the U.S.A. to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half
by 2050. She’s backing cap-and-trade legislation that would literally make gasoline, diesel fuel, oil, natural gas, and coal
too expensive to burn.
Don’t worry about the oil companies actually doing more offshore drilling under her new bill. The U.S. Geological Survey
thinks most of the economically recoverable offshore oil is within 50 miles of the coast. Pelosi’s bill would open some
Outer Continental Shelf areas beyond 50 miles, but it would permanently ban drilling in all areas within 50 miles without the
state’s approval — and she’s offering the states no cut of the oil money to encourage their OK. This bill is just a lie to the
American people about encouraging more U.S. oil; it’s election-year cover for the House Democrats.
Also, remember that the final line of eco-defense is always the courts. In February, 2008, the Feds leased 487 parcels for oil
exploration in the coastal regions of Alaska’s Chuckchi Sea — and the Green movement has already ensnarled all 487
leases in lawsuits. In 1973, faced with the OPEC oil embargo, Congress had to waive the environmental laws to permit the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
After Pelosi’s taxpayer-funded trip to Greenland last year, her press release said:
“We witnessed the effect of global warming on the ice
sheets, and the economic impact on the Inuit people. . . .
Fishing and hunting and the tourism attracted by dog
sledding have all been adversely affected by the
warming climate.”
Don’t laugh. Dogsled tourism was literally the only “economic impact” she could find in Greenland, which was warmer in
the 1930s than today.
As a young mother in 1969, Mrs. Pelosi moved from the East Coast to San Francisco — the very year of the infamous oil
spill off Santa Barbara that helped trigger the original U.S. ban on offshore drilling. “We learned then that oil and water
don’t mix,” she once told a congressional hearing on drilling bans. The problem for Speaker Pelosi is that the ground has
recently been shifting under her feet. Ocean-well spills are now prevented by automatic shut-off valves at the well-heads.
Recent oil spills have been from single-hulled tankers, not drilling.
Then California’s famous “rolling blackouts” starved Californians of energy in 2000–2001 and led both people and jobs to
flee the state. California still hasn‘t built any new power plants, but, with falling temperatures, the snowpack has recently
been more adequate.
Now $4 gasoline has weakened California’s fear of drilling. The Santa Barbara County Supervisors recently voted to permit
offshore drilling, in a symbolic gesture. Supervisor Brooks Firestone said that technology had made offshore drilling far
safer, and: “We do need the jobs. We do need the money. We do need the oil.”
Meanwhile, Brazil has invested $1 billion in drilling 20 oil wells more than 4 miles deep into an offshore subsalt layer — and
tapped into an estimated 80 billion barrels of oil that suddenly make Brazil one of the world’s top-ten oil producers.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Government & the U.S. Congress
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
Dennis T. Avery is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., and is the Director of the Institute's Center for
Global Food Issues (www.cgfi.org). Formerly he was a senior policy analyst for the United
States Department of State, where he won the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. He is the co-author, with
atmospheric physicist Fred Singer, of the book, Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years (Blue Ridge Summit,
Pennsylvania: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006). Avery's book, Saving the Planet With Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental
Triumph of High-Yield Farming (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1995), continues to be popular as a readable overview
of realistic agriculture for the future and for today. Readers may write Avery at Post Office Box 202, Churchville, Virginia, 24421.
Email: cgfi@hughes.net
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume X, 2008
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
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