June 12, 2008
Congress: Quick! Let's do nothing about gas prices!
A proposal to tap more than 80 billion barrels of oil in American waters was deep-sixed along partisan lines yesterday.
A House subcommittee on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led effort to open up more U.S. coastal waters to oil exploration.
Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., spearheaded the effort. His proposal would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling. The first 50 miles off shore would be left alone.
But the plan failed Wednesday on a 9-6, party-line vote in a House appropriations subcommittee, which was considering the proposal as part of an Interior Department spending package.
With record oil prices and gas prices projected to hover around the $4 mark for the rest of the summer, Republicans have ratcheted up their efforts to open up oil exploration along U.S. coastline. But the long-sought change has so far been unsuccessful.
Most offshore oil production and exploration has been banned since a federal law passed in 1981.
[...]
According to Peterson's office, the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf, the area affected by the ban.
Peterson is not alone in his desire to open up the shelf. An effort to unlock the resources has been underway in Congress in recent years, and several interest groups are backing the effort, too.
"Tapping America's huge reserve of deep ocean energy helps us fight terrorism and increases our domestic energy supply, which will help put downward pressure on gasoline prices," Greg Schnacke, President of Americans for American Energy, said in a news release, adding: "With Americans suffering at the gas pump and with higher energy bills, it's a no-brainer that the OCS should be developed."
But the Democrats disagree, insisting that increasing domestic production of oil and natural gas is not going to ease the pain at the pump.
I guess the mysterious theory of supply and demand doesn't resonate with the Dems. Instead they want us to accept the higher prices as an incentive to switch quickly to cars powered by rainbows and self-esteem.
Hugh Hewitt comments:
The U.S. uses about 20 million barrels a day. 86 billion barrels of new reserves would dent the price of gas at the pump and provide more time for alternative fuels and new technologies to continue to advance.
Here's a Congressional Research Service report on off-shore reserves. The ones the Dems refuse to explore or exploit.
The Dems don't care. Obama doesn't care. The "change" they are bringing is $6 a gallon gas.
Vote to stay home in a dark, hot house. Vote Obama.
It's a perfect solution -- blame the GOP for high gas prices and do nothing about bringing the price down, because, of course, that would only help the Republicans.
And the rest of us, too.
Posted by Mike Lief at June 12, 2008 06:49 AM
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Comments
Apparently, nothing the GOP is proposing will have much of an impact either...
Posted by: Gasbag at June 18, 2008 09:49 PM