Anyone else think he is looking at all sorts of polling data, reading editorials and articles that say the 2012 election will be all about the economy (and Obama’s complete incompetence), and saying “gee, I have to make a token effort which will do little to nothing, but can thump my own chest over on the campaign trail”? Barack Obama moves to expand oil and gas drilling
President Barack Obama is looking to bolster U.S. oil drilling, announcing Saturday a preemptive strike against bolder efforts from Capitol Hill as consumer unrest deepens over the price at the pump.
The White House will move forward without congressional action on a set of ideas espoused by Republicans and oil-state Democrats to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and potentially parts of the Atlantic seaboard.
They write that “without Congressional action” like it’s a feather in his little red cap. He’s had the authority to do this his entire term, and decided that drilling here in the US was bad, because oil is bad. Except for his monster limo and SUV posse.
At the same time, Obama is also firing up the liberal Democratic base by urging Congress to repeal billions of dollars in oil-industry tax incentives and to raise fees against companies that do not act quickly on drilling leases they own.
Well, that should help bring down gas prices /sarc. As far as his base goes, since they hate petroleum, they’ve stopped driving, right? Right?
Obama is now looking to give a blanket extension to all oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico due to the disruption caused by last year’s Gulf spill and subsequent administration ban and slow-down of drilling permits. By doing so, Obama is at least touching on an idea advocated by Republicans as part of a three-part offshore drilling package the House approved this month.
A senior administration official told reporters Friday that the administration is also looking to complete by the end of the year the first new lease sale in the Gulf since the BP spill — and to have two combined sales finished in the western and central Gulf of Mexico by the middle of next year.
So, he’s going to extend leases to companies who have already abandoned those wells due to Obama’s moratorium, and we won’t see new ones till the end of the year. So, nothing of substance, just another speech, and some minor action which Obama hopes will turn into slightly lower prices during ……. 2012!
And, yes, he did announce all this in his Weekly Address, which also included lots of demagoguery
The American people shouldn’t be subsidizing oil companies at a time when they’re making near-record profits. As a nation, we should be investing in the clean, renewable sources of energy that are the ultimate solution to high-gas prices. That’s why we’re investing in clean energy technology, helping businesses that manufacture solar panels and wind turbines, and making sure that our cars and trucks can go further on a tank of gas – a step that could save families as much as $3,000 at the pump.
So, we shouldn’t subsidize (we actually aren’t) the fuel that makes our country run, but, we should subsidize, excuse, “invest in”, renewable sources that have so far proven slightly better than useless, and won’t be able to actually provide fuel for our cars. One day they will. I’m all for that. But, that day is decades away. In the meantime, at least through 2012, all we have is class warfare.
House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) — the lead sponsor of the House-passed drilling bills — called Obama’s actions “baby steps.â€
“One weekend address announcing minor policy tinkering, while positive, does not erase the administration’s long, job-destroying record of locking-up America’s energy resources,†Hastings said in a statement.
If Obama was really serious, he would outsource the policy to the House, so the adults could create the policy, and Obama could go party and play some more golf.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.
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I agree, this is just a political move to make people believe that the administration is doing something meaningful. If it really was such a great idea why hasn’t Obama done it before?
Lorne, it is a political move. Nothing less, except for the part about raising taxes and fees on oil companies. Great positive moves are not part of the Socialist playbook.
Obama is serious Teach. He is serious about bypassing Congress with everything he does. He has basically shut down and enacted personal control over oil drilling in the Gulf and off America’s shores. If you want to drill, you have to play his personal shell game.
He hates oil companies. How else can you explain why he loves the idea of eliminating common business tax-book writeoffs and increase fines and fees on them.
I love this idea. Let’s impose a fee for delaying the use of an oil lease. But, let’s bog them down in red tape, the court system and environmental studies, so that they are forced to delay – that way we can also impose huge fines for those delays.
Oil leases should not cost millions of dollars. They should be like getting a camping permit at your local National Forest. It is good for 10 years and costs 5% of the revenue generated from the field. After 5 years, the lease is open for only other parties. You have to move on. Or, you can give up on the field and turn your lease in early. The only limitation is that you have to give America first crack at buying the oil.
We should open up all lease areas not just ones that have been shown to have limited or hard to reach oil – thus causing problems like we saw last year in the gulf.
And, I am confused about why it takes a year to begin issuing permits for drilling again? Heck, now tack on another 6 months till THE FIRST PERMIT IS ISSUED?!?!?!
But, then Socialists are not interested in increasing oil drilling and independence on foreign oil. Just killing the local oil industry.
If Republicans were real, they wouldn’t play like Obama was on their side – he just has a different way of increasing drilling but acknowledge that he really is anti-oil, they would not say things like “House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) — the lead sponsor of the House-passed drilling bills — called Obama’s actions “baby steps.†“One weekend address announcing minor policy tinkering, while positive,
It’s time to bring out the big guns. Don’t play nice with him or his fellow Socialists. Tell America that the prez is a pure Socialist demagogue and is intent on killing the oil and manufacturing industries. Tell America that if it wasn’t for Republicans, there would be no jobs in America and they wouldn’t have their own individual cars to go where they want when they want.