Yesterday the Daily Caller posted an article by Senator James Inhofe about America’s energy policy.
He points out:
“In the debate over rising gas prices, Washington is creating a massive distraction: whether Congress should eliminate tax “subsidies” for oil and gas companies. Of course oil and gas companies don’t receive checks, grants, or direct payments from the federal Treasury, so the debate is a red herring. What’s really needed is price relief for consumers at the pump. The best way to do that is to produce more affordable energy here at home.”
The article points out that the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has stated that America’s supply of oil, gas, and natural gas combined is the largest on Earth.
The article further states:
“In fact, according to CRS, which relied on estimates from the Department of Energy, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Interior Department, we have 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil — nearly six times higher than what President Obama and the Democrats like to claim. That amount of oil would replace our current oil imports from the Persian Gulf for more than 50 years.
“But this administration is saying no. By restricting supply — through its de facto moratorium on deepwater permitting in the Gulf of Mexico, and its restrictions on production on federal lands — prices have gone up. This is exactly what this administration wants. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, for instance, told the Wall Street Journal that “[s]omehow we have to figure out how to boost the prices of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” Consider just Great Britain: consumers there pay over $7.00 a gallon for gasoline.”
The ‘subsidies’ for oil and gas companies are not relevant in the discussion of gas prices. The answer to our anemic economy and the current cost of a gallon of gas is simple–DRILL, BABY, DRILL. If we don’t do that soon, I am not sure our economy will recover. Remember the good old days of George Bush when gasoline was $ 1.84 a gallon and the unemployment rate was under 6 percent. Intelligent energy policies would bring us back there rather quickly. Look at what is happening in the Dakotas with the Bakkan reserve–the unemployment rate in the area of the discovery is approximately 3 percent.