Energy woes multiply
Bensblurb #597 3/14/11
Energy woes multiply
Our energy problems are newly worsened by the riots in the oil-rich Middle East and the nuclear plant eruptions in Japan, hurting us at the gas pump and our U.S. industries, so dependent on oil and electricity, that are trying to lift us out of the economic blahs.
Then here came our boy president, before the earthquake hit Japan, babbling again about oil and his administration’s foolish foot dragging. At least, such concerns move “global warming” (remember that?) off everyone’s mind and “clean energy“ to the back burner, except of course in Washington.
First, here’s the Washington Examiner:
“It's not at all clear which Barack Obama was standing before the White House press corps Friday. It certainly wasn't the same one who stood before a meeting of Resources for the Future on Sept. 15, 2005, and declared: "But as we cut through all the talk and the politics in the energy debate, we can see what the debate is really about. We see the family that thinks twice about what they'll spend at the grocery store...Ultimately, we see a nation that cannot control its future as long as it cannot control the source of energy that keeps it running."...
But Friday's Obama seemed determined to make the price of gas go up as much as possible since his first day on the job in January 2009. He dramatically slowed, then completely stopped the federal government's issuance of drilling permits on federal lands and in offshore waters. He also slowed down the government auctions of leases for energy exploration on other federal lands. And since the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, only two permits have been issued -- both within the last month -- to enable drilling to resume in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies a third of U.S. oil and natural gas needs. He has withdrawn previously issued permits for drilling in Alaska and put millions of acres of federal land in the lower 48 states off-limits to future oil exploration.
His efforts have worked, too, as U.S. production has decreased dramatically. In 2007, the Energy Information Administration projected that 700 million barrels of oil would be produced offshore in 2010, but only 600 million actually were. And the same government agency predicted that onshore production last year would be 133 million barrels, but it was only 114 million. And EIA projects total U.S. oil production will go down 250,000 barrels per day next year...”
Politico adds to the madness...
“The Obama administration (3/4/11) appealed a judge's orders directing the Interior Department to act on several Gulf of Mexico deepwater drilling permits.[This] is the latest salvo in the ongoing fight over the speed with which Interior is – or isn't – letting oil drillers get back to work after last year's BP oil spill.
Gulf state lawmakers and the oil industry have accused the department of enacting a "de facto" moratorium against new drilling, while Interior says it needs to ensure safety and environmental protections are in place.
Friday's appeal challenges rulings by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who on Feb. 17 gave Interior 30 days to make a verdict on five pending deepwater drilling permits applications. He later added two additional permits to that order.
Blustered Interior‘s Ken Salazar: “The judge in this particular case in my view is wrong," “And we will argue the case because I don’t believe that the court has the jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior what my administrative responsibilities are.”
He added, “the policy we have in mind is unmistakingly clear: We are moving forward with the development of oil and gas” production."
Yeah, sure.
Friend Dennis Avery hits on another energy restricting effort by Washington...
“Farmers, along with the rest of us, could get hit with a triple jolt of regulatory shock if the Environment Protection Agency goes forward with its announced controls on carbon emissions. Consumers are already paying heavily for the federal mandate that puts a huge chunk of our corn crop, as ethanol, into our gas tanks instead of into our meat, milk, and eggs. While food costs soar, along with fuel costs, it is a waste of good corn as it contributes almost zero to our energy independence.
Now, the EPA is moving to impose tough limits on carbon emissions from the big power plants across the country—and then plans to screw the new carbon limits down tighter and tighter. Farmers’ fuel and electricity costs would go through the roof, along with everybody else’s.
Avery's distinguished friend and fellow author, Fred Singer, cites the big money in “clean energy”....
“But the financial subsidies [for reducing CO2] have established politically important stakeholders who will continue to fight for programs of "clean energy", "renewable energy", and other such programs -- all in the name of "saving the earth's climate for our children and grand-children."
One only has to look at the current situation in the United States to realize how bad things have become. Western states, under the leadership of California, have established the Western Climate Initiative. Eastern states have established a similar regime. One of the worst ideas is the so-called Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would force electric utilities to generate a certain percentage of their power from "renewable energy". Many of these groups demand a 20 percent "feed-in" quota by 2020, although politicians are playing all kinds of games with numbers. President Obama is calling for an 80 percent reduction by 2050. As he promised during the 2008 campaign, under his plan "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."
---For sure, March Madness isn’t just about basketball.
Ben Blankenship
###############
Energy woes multiply
Our energy problems are newly worsened by the riots in the oil-rich Middle East and the nuclear plant eruptions in Japan, hurting us at the gas pump and our U.S. industries, so dependent on oil and electricity, that are trying to lift us out of the economic blahs.
Then here came our boy president, before the earthquake hit Japan, babbling again about oil and his administration’s foolish foot dragging. At least, such concerns move “global warming” (remember that?) off everyone’s mind and “clean energy“ to the back burner, except of course in Washington.
First, here’s the Washington Examiner:
“It's not at all clear which Barack Obama was standing before the White House press corps Friday. It certainly wasn't the same one who stood before a meeting of Resources for the Future on Sept. 15, 2005, and declared: "But as we cut through all the talk and the politics in the energy debate, we can see what the debate is really about. We see the family that thinks twice about what they'll spend at the grocery store...Ultimately, we see a nation that cannot control its future as long as it cannot control the source of energy that keeps it running."...
But Friday's Obama seemed determined to make the price of gas go up as much as possible since his first day on the job in January 2009. He dramatically slowed, then completely stopped the federal government's issuance of drilling permits on federal lands and in offshore waters. He also slowed down the government auctions of leases for energy exploration on other federal lands. And since the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, only two permits have been issued -- both within the last month -- to enable drilling to resume in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies a third of U.S. oil and natural gas needs. He has withdrawn previously issued permits for drilling in Alaska and put millions of acres of federal land in the lower 48 states off-limits to future oil exploration.
His efforts have worked, too, as U.S. production has decreased dramatically. In 2007, the Energy Information Administration projected that 700 million barrels of oil would be produced offshore in 2010, but only 600 million actually were. And the same government agency predicted that onshore production last year would be 133 million barrels, but it was only 114 million. And EIA projects total U.S. oil production will go down 250,000 barrels per day next year...”
Politico adds to the madness...
“The Obama administration (3/4/11) appealed a judge's orders directing the Interior Department to act on several Gulf of Mexico deepwater drilling permits.[This] is the latest salvo in the ongoing fight over the speed with which Interior is – or isn't – letting oil drillers get back to work after last year's BP oil spill.
Gulf state lawmakers and the oil industry have accused the department of enacting a "de facto" moratorium against new drilling, while Interior says it needs to ensure safety and environmental protections are in place.
Friday's appeal challenges rulings by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who on Feb. 17 gave Interior 30 days to make a verdict on five pending deepwater drilling permits applications. He later added two additional permits to that order.
Blustered Interior‘s Ken Salazar: “The judge in this particular case in my view is wrong," “And we will argue the case because I don’t believe that the court has the jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior what my administrative responsibilities are.”
He added, “the policy we have in mind is unmistakingly clear: We are moving forward with the development of oil and gas” production."
Yeah, sure.
Friend Dennis Avery hits on another energy restricting effort by Washington...
“Farmers, along with the rest of us, could get hit with a triple jolt of regulatory shock if the Environment Protection Agency goes forward with its announced controls on carbon emissions. Consumers are already paying heavily for the federal mandate that puts a huge chunk of our corn crop, as ethanol, into our gas tanks instead of into our meat, milk, and eggs. While food costs soar, along with fuel costs, it is a waste of good corn as it contributes almost zero to our energy independence.
Now, the EPA is moving to impose tough limits on carbon emissions from the big power plants across the country—and then plans to screw the new carbon limits down tighter and tighter. Farmers’ fuel and electricity costs would go through the roof, along with everybody else’s.
Avery's distinguished friend and fellow author, Fred Singer, cites the big money in “clean energy”....
“But the financial subsidies [for reducing CO2] have established politically important stakeholders who will continue to fight for programs of "clean energy", "renewable energy", and other such programs -- all in the name of "saving the earth's climate for our children and grand-children."
One only has to look at the current situation in the United States to realize how bad things have become. Western states, under the leadership of California, have established the Western Climate Initiative. Eastern states have established a similar regime. One of the worst ideas is the so-called Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would force electric utilities to generate a certain percentage of their power from "renewable energy". Many of these groups demand a 20 percent "feed-in" quota by 2020, although politicians are playing all kinds of games with numbers. President Obama is calling for an 80 percent reduction by 2050. As he promised during the 2008 campaign, under his plan "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."
---For sure, March Madness isn’t just about basketball.
Ben Blankenship
###############
posted by Ben Blankenship at
11:37 AM
