The Purpose of This Bl;og

By and large, liberals are very decent, kind, and compassionate people who genuinely want what is best. This should be kept in mind as we explore the Law of Unintended Negative Consequences near invariably resulting from Leftist big-hearted solutions to societal problems.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Obama Energy - Drilling

In 2008, candidate Obama set forth his blueprint for ending, in 10 years, America's dependency on foreign oil. (See HERE)

Excellent!

To accomplish this daunting feat, and in conflict with his campaign promise to retain the ban on off-shore drilling (see HERE), Obama acknowledged the need to expand domestic production--which he proposed would come about through forcing oil companies to use their drilling leases or lose them, as well as through appropriately expanding offshore drilling, with the caveat that: “With only 2% of the world’s oil reserves, we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices…Not when we consume 20% of the world’s oil.”(ibid., and HERE)

During his presidency, Obama "said he will 'take every possible action to safely develop' natural gas;" (See HERE) He also promised, "you have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can -- and we'll do it while protecting the health and safety of the American people." (See HERE)

USAToday reported in 2012: "President Obama is using his energy tour to make the case that oil drilling is at a record pace on his watch..." (See HERE)  Elsewhere, Obama declared: "Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. That's a fact. That's a fact. We've quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs to a record high. So do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country. I mean, I guess there are -- there are a few spots where we're not drilling. We're not drilling in the National Mall. We're not drilling at your house." (See HERE)

Wonderful!

However, according to left-leaning FactChect.org: "Obama was wrong when he denied Romney’s claim that the Obama administration cut in half the number of new permits and new leases for offshore oil and gas drilling. The decrease is actually more than half....Obama was wrong to flatly deny that he cut in half the number of new federal permits and leases for oil and natural gas drilling. The number of new offshore leases has plummeted under Obama — falling by more than half, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. During Obama’s first term, the U.S. has so far issued 1,304 new offshore leases compared with 3,317 in Bush’s second term — a decrease of 61 percent. The number of new permits for offshore wells also nosedived. The U.S. approved 1,316 new permits during Bush’s second term. The number has fallen to 515 — so far — under Obama, also a 61 percent drop. The Obama administration had halted the drilling of all new offshore wells for one month after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010, which killed 11 people and resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The administration then issued a months-long moratorium on the drilling of new deepwater wells. New safety requirements also slowed down the permitting process for new shallow-water wells. The administration, for instance, approved only 12 new offshore leases in 2011." (See HERE)

Liberals have also suggested that the scale-back in lease permits was due to the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. "Speaking on ABC’s 'Good Morning America,' senior adviser David Axelrod said 'no additional [offshore] drilling has been authorized, and none will until we find out what happened and whether there was something unique and preventable here. … No domestic drilling in new areas is going to go forward until there is an adequate review of what’s happened here and of what is being proposed elsewhere.'” (reported HERE and HERE)

Whereas, "The reality is that the Obama administration slowed the permitting process long before the spill happened. Rather than playing catch up, we're falling further behind. The American people and the oil and gas industry need certainty that energy independence, not politics, will drive our nation's security. The president should also start opening new fields where there is clear bipartisan local support—along the mid-Atlantic coast, the Eastern Gulf, and in Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge—and he should stop slow-walking lease sales for onshore drilling on federal lands, which in 2011 reached an all-time low (since 1984), when discounting for leases sold in previous years." (See HERE)

Even more problematic, regarding drilling on private and state lands: "Obama's policies threaten to slow energy development there, as well. He has proposed taxes on the oil industry that discourage exploration. And new EPA rules would significantly slow down drilling. According to a study by Washington-based Advanced Resources International, Obama's new regulations would reduce domestic oil production by up to 37%. There are lies, damned lies, and then there are Obama's charts." (See HERE

In March of 2013, energy expert, Dan Kish, declared: "The Department of Interior which controls permits for drilling on federal onshore lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is also exerting a big influence upon fracking operations. To give you an idea how difficult it is to get federal government land permitting approval versus states, consider the difference in time schedules. Under the Obama administration, the time required for a permit has doubled to 307 days, while in North Dakota, where booming oil shale fracking has effectively wiped out unemployment, permitting currently takes only 10 days. There should be no wonder that all of the states that regulate permitting are fighting efforts of the government to interfere." (See HERE)

That same month, Jonathan Strong from Roll Call, indicated: "Well, and it's kind of like the drill -- the oil production has increased in spite of his policies, not because of them. And so he [Obama] -- in the speech, he's also saying, you know, drilling is at its highest rate, but that is also not why gas prices have increased. He's trying to take credit for something that he says has nothing to do with the price of gas." (See HERE)

So, the Leftist LUNC here is that drilling is up, in spite of president Obama.


For an explanation as to why these Leftist energy LUNCs occur, please see: Gov: Wrong Tool for the Right Job - Introduction and Cold Nanny as well as The Politics of Compassion, Emotions, Ignorance, Denial, Blame-Shifting, and Victimization

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