by Tina Grazier
The American people are being held hostage and our nation is in deep trouble. Recent policies enacted by the majority Democrats in control of government have created a mild recovery on Wall Street while making main street America a bone yard of failing and sluggish businesses. For all of their claims of jobs “created and saved”, the country lost jobs and continues to endure an unemployment rate hovering at 10% with much higher percentages in certain areas and segments of the country. Minority blacks, for instance, are suffering under 17% unemployment; California’s Central Valley, often referred to as a breadbasket to the world, is experiencing similar levels of unemployment ranging from 12.5% to 29.3%. These discouraging rates of unemployment do not include those who have fallen off the unemployment rolls and have given up on finding reliable work.
Energy policy has made our country ever more dependent on foreign sources for our energy needs as Democrats tipped their hats to the extremist environmental constituents who helped to elect them with subsidies and plenty of restrictions and regulation on drilling in America. How else to explain the shutting down of drilling in the Gulf, the shutting down of drilling exploration in several areas of America, increased regulation in an already overly regulated industry, a hands off policy on lands opened up by the Bush administration for exploration, and refusal to act so that alternatives such as nuclear and clean coal can be utilized and built> But most telling of all, billions of stimulus dollars were targeted toward two alternative but inadequate sources, wind and solar.
According to the Department of Energy American energy consumption of has declined by 2% since the economy failed and as a result, renewable energy’s share of the U.S. market increased to well over 7 percent. Seven percent doesn’t come close to making a dent on America’s energy and economic needs.
While Congress spent money like drunken sailors and diddled behind closed doors with the particulars of their prime objective the rest of the country waited and wondered when they would begin to take bold steps to actually improve conditions in the private sector. They had to know that people were suffering, they should have known their robust spending would lead to a sluggish economy, inflation, and high unemployment, and they absolutely knew that Americans need and want clean, inexpensive energy produced in America. Sadly I don’t think they cared about the needs and wants of the people; their own agenda, the control of 17% of the economy was uppermost in their minds and took center stage. As Senator Reid put it healthcare legislation was, “The most important thing we’ve done for the country and the world…”.
Americans do not suffer fools forever and so have turned out a great number of the players in Congress who ignored both the needs and the will of the people. We are ready for a new Congress and we are willing to pressure all members to do what is necessary to get this nation back on its feet. We demand that they work in such a way that our budgets and debt reflect sound policy and are made manageable. Hopefully they have heard our voices and will act swiftly to begin this process. It could take a decade to accomplish, if not more.
It would appear that some have plans at the ready to address these important issues. One go getter is Rep. Doc Hastings:
“Doc Hastings at a crossroads on energy<" by Patrick Reis - Politico
“We’re going to have vigorous oversight in a lot of areas, oversight that has been neglected, I think, for several administrations,” Hastings said. “I don’t think our committee has done a good enough job on that, or Congress overall for that matter.”
While other Republicans take turns going after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Hastings has a Cabinet villain of his own: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Hastings is steaming over the administration’s response to last year’s BP oil spill, accusing it of exploiting the deep-water accident for an excuse to kill drilling even in shallow waters. He’s flummoxed by onshore developments as well, including a policy announced Dec. 23 that will make it easier for Interior to mark federal lands for conservation without congressional approval.
Interior has repeatedly denied allegations of a de facto drilling moratorium or a plot to lock up public lands.
Still, Hastings insists his oversight will be more than political theater. The end goal, he said, is for Interior to support an “all-of-the-above” plan that maximizes U.S. energy production from coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear plants and — when not supported by new mandates or subsidies — renewables sources such as wind and the sun.
The question, of course, is whether the relatively young panel under Hastings has a chance against experienced green lobbyists and the entrenched Democrats that will certainly try to stop their efforts. That’s where the American people can get involved. We must make sure these representatives know we support them and we must make sure our opinions make news. The Petroleum Industry is standing by, waiting to contribute to the economy, jobs creation, and in ultimately, a lot of revenue to the government.
Some of that revenue could be used to help pay down our debt:
Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said that if the Obama administration and Congress would allow the industry access to domestic oil and natural gas reserves, the United States would get the energy it needs, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and the government would add more than $1.7 trillion to its coffers. (emphasis mine)
While it makes sense to encourage the development of alternative forms of energy it doesn’t make sense to spend the bulk of those dollars in China and ignore the use of energy sources that already exist in America. It doesn’t make sense to ignore sources that we know produce clean energy, as nuclear energy does. It also doesn’t make sense to pursue policies that make energy more expensive.
Our nation’s survival, indeed the survival of individuals and families, depends on the productive energies of the people. Unless we set them free to produce, and set the oil industry free to provide them with the inexpensive energy to do so we haven’t a prayer of competing in the world. Americans are hard working, productive people given the chance we can get this done
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Mr. President, members of Congress, do what works…set the American people free!
NEWS FLASH: “Republicans kill global warming committee,” by Katesheppard for Mother Jones – Guardian (UK)
The kick-off of the 112th Congress on Wednesday also marked the end of an era in the House – the demise of a committee devoted solely to climate change and energy issues. The Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, created by Nancy Pelosi in 2006, has been shuttered under the new Republican leadership.