Superficially, it would seem that the nation is successfully pursuing the Obama Administration’s stated energy goals of “increasing domestic oil production” and “reducing our dependence on foreign oil.” Domestic oil production has increased, but in spite of and not because of Administration policies. And while our overall oil import demand has declined, our imports from the Persian Gulf states, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have | Read More »
A parody video that answers the question “How’s all that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?” A CO-PRODUCTION OF: http://www.republicanpartyanimals.org and http://houseofsunny.tv Nice work. Open thread.
No, of course he didn’t say that. But what if he had? And why is it any less appropriate to tell a sports hero that than a small business owner? Imagine for a moment an alternate universe where the President talked smack to the Giants … “..Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own.” | Read More »
I sat down this morning to write about teachers and bridges, about motivation and inspiration. Upon rereading the President’s Roanoke remarks, however, my focus shifted away from my planned topic of entrepreneurial outrage (“You didn’t build that!”). Reading deeper, a more alarming theme emerged: Now, we don’t need more top-down economics. I’ve got a different view. I believe that the way you grow the economy | Read More »
Obama’s energy policies are a key vulnerability in the November elections, which has his staff scrambling to make it look like he’s actually done something to support domestic energy production. Since neither he nor anyone in his Administration knows the first thing about oil and gas, that can lead to some pretty ridiculous claims. Like, for example, the following graph, found at Obama For America‘s | Read More »
UPDATE 4/30/2012 via Fox News: Top EPA official resigns after ‘crucify’ comment A top EPA official has resigned after coming under scrutiny for 2010 remarks in which he compared the agency’s enforcement strategy to Roman crucifixion. Al Armendariz, the top environmental official in the oil-rich South and Southwest region, resigned in a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Sunday, saying he did not want | Read More »
Voters in the November election will be acutely aware of two key economic variables above all others: the national unemployment rate, and the price they pay for a gallon of gasoline. President Obama senses his vulnerability on gasoline prices, and is busy erecting a defense against charges that his actions (or inactions) have contributed to high prices. His weekly radio address focused on the problem | Read More »
Irony alert. (HuffPo link. Sorry.) “Anybody who tells you that we can just drill our way out of this problem does not know what they’re talking about, or they’re not telling you the truth — one or the other,” Obama said at an event held in New Hampshire to tout his energy policies. He noted that, in fact, oil production in the United States has | Read More »
Tulsa World headline: Obama: No magic bullet to lower gas prices WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says there is no easy answer to the problem of rising energy prices, dismissing Republican plans to address the problem as little more than gimmicks. “We know there’s no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight,” Obama said Saturday in | Read More »
We’ve heard it all before, except now the message has been repackaged to deal with the evolving reality in the Energy Sector. In “fossil fuels”, we have two big success stories: the Shale Revolution and the continued success of domestic oil development. What we didn’t hear much about was rebuilding the economy based on Green Jobs. The new Green Economy had more than a few | Read More »
In a New York Times editorial celebrating the recent demise of the ethanol subsidy, the Old Grey Lady once again descends into outright falsehood to malign the industry that Progressives love to hate: Congress should now focus on the oil industry, which has long enjoyed a web of arcane and unnecessary tax breaks — deductions for well depletion and intangible drilling costs. They are unique | Read More »
On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced a release of thirty million barrels of crude oil over the next 60 days from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation’s stockpile supposedly set aside for emergency supply disruptions. Washington, DC – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that the U.S. and its partners in the International Energy Agency have decided to release a total of 60 | Read More »
From Vladimir’s diary, dated December 18, 2009: Remember $4.00 per Gallon Gasoline? Just Wait. Well, here we are, less than 18 months later. A little context: Gasoline prices (national average, all grades) peaked over $4.00 per gallon for a couple of months in the summer of 2008. Prices bottomed in December 2008 at $1.66. By December 2009, at the time of the writing of the | Read More »
As the graph below shows, the price of gas is languishing just above $4.00 per thousand cubic feet. I’m selling gas at 2/3 the price it was back in 2005, and about a third of its peak price in 2008! Somebody must be cheating me out of my gas, and it’s about time Obama looked into it! Huh? What’s that? You don’t think that’s the | Read More »
The White House Blog, in a post entitled “Expanding Safe and Responsible Energy Production”, lays out the case for the Obama Administration as a long-time supporter of domestic oil and gas: One area where we have focused our efforts since the start of the administration – long before this current spike – is increasing responsible domestic energy production – including oil and gas. In fact, | Read More »
The President’s post-election remarks contained something of an “olive branch” to Congressional Republicans. It came in the form of a broad hint that the Administration might backpedal on its opposition to natural gas development. Obama’s Enthusiasm for Gas Drilling Raises Eyebrows “We’ve got, I think, broad agreement that we’ve got terrific natural gas resources in this country,” Obama said when he was pressed for issues | Read More »
According to a new Bloomberg poll, American public opinion on the BP oil spill reflects common sense and a rejection of the Obama Administration’s legalistic overreaction. While public objections to a drilling ban echo the views of Republican leaders such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the sentiment is strong regardless of political leaning: 85 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of independents and 65 percent | Read More »
Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans, hearing the case of Hornbeck v. Salazar, has blocked the President’s moratorium on all drilling in water depths greater than 500 feet. The White House is expected to appeal the ruling immediately. H/T Artie, for d’most part
It’s BP, not British Petroleum, ever since Maggie Thatcher privatized the government’s stake in the energy giant back in the 1980s. But the stakes involve a large chunk of the UK’s national wealth, not to mention their national pride. From Foreign Policy: Has the BP Bashing Gone Too Far? There has been extensive coverage in Britain of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. | Read More »
Peer-review, schmeer-review. If Obama and Salazar wanted to cripple the domestic oil and gas industry and the very-red Gulf Coast states that depend on offshore drilling, they couldn’t find a better way to do it than to impose a six-month (at least) moratorium on all deepwater drilling, including the unprecedented step of shutting down operations on wells that were already underway. But they couldn’t just | Read More »
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