Crossposted at:
UNBOSSED
Don't get me wrong. I remain one of those ninnies who seriously doubts the Democratic Party's ability capitalize on the disasterous rule of the GOP OBSTRUCTIONISTS and the disasters created my their inane policies. I will say this, however, the complete failure and unwillingness of the Republicans to deal with the energy crisis facing our nation has them backed into a corner.
Its time we beat their lights out.
Get out of the way OBSTRUCTIONISTS!
A year ago, we in the environmental community trembled at the thought of high energy costs. Three dollars a gallon! Holy fossil fuels batman! The idea was that our position to stop drilling in some places and demand responsible drilling in other places might be seen (or painted as) obstructionist and as the driving force behind high prices.
No more.
The abject failure of the Republican energy policy may have come to benefit us by backing the Right-Winger's into a corner. The American public, as with Iraq, is starting to understand that they have been duped. With our Senator Domenici (R-NM) dictatorially at the helm of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (along with his chained ape Senator Bingaman (D-NM)) we have seen nothing but a near complete collapse in our energy system. Natural gas prices spiked last winter, gas in Taos is $3.09 today, communities all over the west are fighting the federal government to stop drilling on economically valuable public lands, private property rights are being stomped on by the industry, global warming is getting wet and our military is bogged down in a war that is at least in part, for oil. Its become clear that the GOP is OBSTRUCTING our path to a better future.
And now they want us to sell ANWR for $100 a pop? The American public has called thier bullshit. Nobody's buying this anymore.
And then, as I pointed out the other day in my Energy News Roundup, we get this nutbaggary:
Albuquerque Tribune
Domenici fed up with Big Oil prices
Sorry no link on this but here is the money quote:
Sen. Pete Domenici, upset that oil companies are spending big profits on big payments for executives instead of exploration and investment, says he will back repealing $2 billion in tax incentives for the industry, authorizing tougher fuel economy standards and expanding federal authority to investigate price gouging.
"We're not going to let them get away with any kind of illegal activity," the Albuquerque Republican said.
Oh Man! Here's the guy thats giving industry something like $90 billion in breaks? Jeeeeeezus. It seems this growing chorus of Republican legislators willy-nilly abandoning their free-market principles is an excellent opportunity to steal a page from the conservative's playbook, and lambaste them for proposing to solve our energy problem by having the federal government directly interfere with the strategic decisions (product pricing, investment, executive compensation) of private, for-profit, commercial businesses. We all know that is politically expedient in an election year, but the only solution that is constitutional and will actually work, in both the short and long term, is to invest in the development of renewables and the efficient deployment of energy efficiency technologies...
Domenici's Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a total failure and the American public is getting it. Exempting oil and gas from the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act wasnt enough, was it? Categorical exclusion wasnt enough. Fast tracking wasnt enough. Tens of billions of dollars in subsidy to an industry raking in hundreds of billions in profit wasnt enough.
Total and complete failure on the Republican watch.
Ideological failure seems to make people insane. Sen. Domenici and his ilk have been backed into a corner by thier own failed ideologies. We've been kneeling before the great man for several years now, sucking ass for land protection bills in New Mexico and now he shows his weakness. He's been calling for drilling in every damn inch of this nation but is too weak to protect something in his own back yard.
A New Mexico blog pointed out:
We blogged last week of NM GOP Senator Pete Domenici and how his "B.S. Meter" went red as pump prices soared and public outrage grew. But some enviornmental Alligators e-mail that the senior senators "bullshit meter" needs some fine tuning when it comes to listening to outsized public concern on another big issue.
"Despite the public outcry regarding the Valle Vidal, Sen. Domenici is not leading but standing in the way. The Forest Service has received nearly 70,000 comments opposing drilling in the Valle Vidal. 18 north-central New Mexico communities and county commissions have passed resolutions opposing drilling as have numerous Chambers of Commerce. Still, Domenici wont co-sponsor and push Sen. Bingaman's Valle Vidal Preservation Act. Where is the "acting with the public?" Hits one enviro leading the charge for no drilling.
The public wants more oil and lower gas prices. And they want scenic treasures like Valle Vidal protected too. Seems that's enough to cloud up Pete's B.S. Meter.
Damn straight. Because we can have both if we'd get the damn Republicans out of the way.
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) is also changing tune, jumping to the defense of her nooseman and essentially committing that if the ship goes down, no one gets off.
Just two years ago, The House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman, Rep. Joe Barton (TX), tried to have Wilson ejected from his panel. Now he's closed ranks behind her. They've tied thier sinking boats to one another. Barton let Wilson be the chief sponsor of an anti-gouging bill on gas prices. This is a huge coup for her in her reelection bid (Madrid, BTW, will lose this one I'll betcha good money - Why? Because, typical Dem that she is, SHE DOESNT FUCKING STAND FOR ANYTHING!!) but, from the woman who voted to open ANWR, has thus far, taken in over $36,000 from the oil and gas industry is nothing short of cheap. Wilson's bill was fast-tracked by cowering Republican leaders. The measure passed overwhelmingly. The Senate still has to agree.
But while industry representatives and thier apologists in Congress continue to "grouse" about access to public lands for natural gas extraction, thier policies are increasingly showing them to be abject failures. And lies. I've said it before: USA public lands in 2005-2006 contained an estimated 138 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, and the industry in 2006 has access to all but 4 to 13 Tcf of this amount. These are the official Federal government figures calculated according to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2000, also known as EPCA. The EPCA Amendments required an inter-agency analysis of proved oil and gas reserves for all onshore Federal lands in the United States. This assessment was purposefully designed to include the "extent and nature of any restrictions or impediments to the development of such resources."
The recoverable quantity of natural gas currently under Federal lands with no industry access whatsoever is about 4 Tcf. An additional 9 Tcf are economically recoverable from Federal land where there are varying degrees of access restrictions. Therefore, based on the best scientific data, industry complaints about access to natural gas on federal lands are almost completely unfounded.
But that doesnt seem to matter in Congress, does it.
Today the WAPO named several House of Representative obstructionists who have consistently resisted the most obvious and straightforward solutions to energy demands by our nation. These jerks are flip-flopping now but the damage is done.
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Resistant Lawmakers Now Back Higher Gas Mileage Standards
May 4, 2006
Amid a growing public outcry over rising gasoline prices, several long-resistant lawmakers indicated yesterday that they may consider raising fuel economy standards for passenger cars for the first time in more than 30 years.
[snip]
Rep. Michael Bilirakis (Fla.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is one of several Republicans who now support tougher CAFE rules. In a hearing yesterday on the subject, Bilirakis pressed Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta on whether automakers have the technology to produce more efficient cars.
[snip]
Bilirakis said carmakers have not taken advantage of existing technology, adding: "You realize of course, the pressure that we're under."
Bilirakis is not alone. GOP Reps. Michael N. Castle (Del.), John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr. (N.Y.) and John E. Sweeney (N.Y.) have all switched their stance and now back stricter federal requirements. Kuhl changed his mind after he surveyed his constituents late last year: Of 4,000 respondents, 70 percent supported more stringent CAFE standards.
House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.), who along with Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has tried to raise CAFE standards to 33 mpg since 2001, said the political climate has shifted.
"The momentum is clearly on the side of the angels," said Boehlert, who ended his testimony before the Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday by delivering a slightly off-key rendition of the Ruby and the Romantics hit "Our Day Will Come."
[snip]
Last year their proposal failed 254 to 177 in the House, while a similar Senate amendment lost by 67 to 28. A number of Democrats from auto-producing states, along with many Republicans, argue that stricter fuel efficiency standards could cost U.S. manufacturing jobs.
[snip]
National Academy of Sciences study that year [2001] concluded that a standard of 33 mpg was feasible and would not compromise passenger safety.
[snip]
Republicans were still seeking a way yesterday to show the public they care about rising energy prices. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said he was abandoning the idea of offering consumers a $100 gasoline rebate; Castle said he and other lawmakers "are looking for better measures."
Compare the fuel-saving figure of 2.6 million barrels of oil per day in the third-to-last paragraph of the article...
Markey, who said the administration already has the authority to increase the mileage requirement, said the standards he and Boehlert support -- which would save about 2.6 million barrels of oil a day by 2025 -- will only "come out of Congress." He added: "Members of this committee are feeling enormous pressure on this from constituents."
...to the 10 billion barrels of currently recoverable oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. [10,000,000,000/2,600,000 = 385 days]. This says that with new passenger car fuel efficiency standards, in a little over ten years (3,846 days) our nation would be able to account for a savings of all the oil ANWR could provide (Ten billion barrels of ANWR oil will meet about 1.6 years total USA demand, so the marginal savings based on better fuel economy could not possibly exceed the total volume of ANWR oil). AND it would take at least ten years if not more for that oil to hit the market.
Call them what they are: OBSTRUCTIONISTS. Castle, Sweeny, Domenici, Wilson...you people are OBSTRUCTING the will of the Americans people. OBSTRUCTING the will of your constituents. OBSTRUCTING the great good. OBSTRUCTING our economy. OBSTRUCTING our health. OBSTRUCTING our children's future. The only thing you are not obstructing is that of your handlers in the oil and gas industry.
KEEP YOUR $100.00 YOU ASSHOLES!!