Yes, the House Republicans say we need to drill, and that Democrats are blocking any solutions to the rising price of gasoline. However, one need only to look back to know where the real culprits lie.
If I remember correctly, it was the former Republican Congress, teamed with a Republican President that caused all the problems with Energy American consumers are feeling now. Was it not a Republican Congress and a Republican President that refused to force Big Oil to quit gouging the American consumer?
They can yell "supply and demand" all they want but the bottom line is that if Big Oil were not gouging us they would not have been posting record profits again and again. When you get a bunch of CEOs of oil companies together with Dick Cheney to write this countries energy policy and then shamelessly rubber-stamp it through the Congress, what do you expect?
This is a mess of the Republican Party's making. They are the party that brought us high gas prices, because they are the party that profits from it. One need only look at John Boehner's voting record to know that he is a total hypocrite. First, we have this:
Vote to pass a bill that additionally facilitates drilling in Alaska and encourages oil companies to drill on already leased land in the United States.
HR 6515: To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious environmentally responsible program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, and for other purposes.
-Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an "expeditious environmentally responsible program" of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska with no fewer than one lease sale in the Reserve each year during the period 2009 through 2013 (Sec. 2).
-Requires the Secretary of Transportation to facilitate the construction of pipelines to transport oil and gas from the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to existing infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska, and requires the President to facilitate construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to United States markets (Sec. 3, 4).
-Reimposes prohibition on crude oil exports from Alaska (Sec. 6).
-Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing to a person any new lease that authorizes the exploration for or production of oil or natural gas unless the person is diligently developing the Federal lands that are subject to existing leases or the person has relinquished ownership interest in all Federal oil and gas leases under which oil and gas are not being diligently developed (Sec. 7).
Representative John Boehner voted NO
http://www.votesmart.org/...
If Boehner is so worried about drilling, why did he vote against this bill to allow for drilling on already leased lands? Because he and his fellow Republicans could care less about the pain Americans feel at the pump. Their only objective is to dole out more American taxpayer dollars, and American land to Big Oil to gouge the American consumer.
The Hypocrisy continues:
Vote to pass a bill to require holders of federal oil and gas leases to develop oil and gas on any existing federal lease before applying for new leases.
HR 6251: To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new Federal oil and gas leases to holders of existing leases who do not diligently develop the lands subject to such existing leases or relinquish such leases, and for other purposes.
Representative John Boehner voted NO
http://www.votesmart.org/...
Again, if you are so worried about drilling and extracting American Oil, why vote against a bill that requires lands already leased for that purpose to be used? It seems to me this is not just hypocritical, but idiotic.
Then finally we have this vote:
Vote to pass a bill that establishes regulations and economic incentives to increase renewable energy technology and production in the United States.
HR 3221: An Act moving the United States toward greater energy independence and security, developing innovative new technologies, reducing carbon emissions, creating green jobs, protecting consumers, increasing clean renewable energy production, and modernizing our energy infrastructure.
Defines a retail electric supplier as a supplier that sells at least 1 million megawatthours of electricity for non-resale use, but excludes suppliers that are operated by the government or by rural electric cooperatives (sec. 9611).
-Requires 15% of energy produced by retail electrical suppliers to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020 (Sec. 9611).
-Allows the Governor of any state to petition the Secretary of Energy to allow up to 25% of the renewable energy requirement to be met by purchasing energy efficiency credits (Sec. 9611).
-Repeals the tax deduction for income attributable to oil or natural gas (Sec. 13001).
-Increases development loan limits for companies undergoing projects designed to reduce energy consumption by at least 10 percent (Sec. 3003).
-Authorizes grants up to $300,000 under the Small Business Sustainability Initiative to provide support to smaller and medium sized businesses to improve environmental performance (Sec. 3005).
Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPAE) within the Department of Energy to develop energy technologies that result in reductions in energy imports and greenhouse gas emissions (Sec. 4001).
-Requires the President to establish an interagency United States Global Change Research Program to develop scenarios for climate change and convene regional workshops to facilitate information exchange among experts (Sec. 4614).
Authorizes loan guarantees of up to $1 billion to assist in the development and construction of biorefineries and bio-fuel production plants (Sec. 5003).
Requires Federal agencies to purchase light or mediumduty passenger vehicles that have been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as low greenhouse-gas emitting vehicles (Sec. 6201).
Requires onshore oil operators operating a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act to restore any impacted land to its previous conditions, and to replace contaminated water supplies (Sec. 7222-7223).
Authorizes $850 million a year in future appropriated funds to reduce fares and expand services for public transportation, including $750 million a year for grants to urbanized areas and $100 million for grants to nonurbanized areas (Sec. 8201).
-Authorizes $10 million a year in future appropriated funds for grants to railroad carriers and state and local governments for assistance in purchasing hybrid locomotives (Sec. 8301).
-Requires the Secretary of Energy to issue regulations prohibiting the sale of 100 watt general service incandescent lamps after January 1, 2012, unless they emit at least 60 lumens per watt (Sec. 9021).
Requires the development of fuel standards for diesel fuel containing 20 percent biodiesel if the American Society for Testing and Materials has not developed standards within a year (Sec. 9307).
Allows a base tax credit for plugin hybrid vehicles equal to the sum of $4,000 with additional credits for battery capacity, not to exceed an additional $2,000 (Sec. 12001).
-Phases out the hybrid tax credit the first year that the number of hybrid vehicles sold is at least 60,000 (Sec. 12001).
-Authorizes a credit for any qualified cellulosic alcohol fuel producer of 50 cents for each gallon of cellulosic fuel produced (Sec. 12004).
Representative John Boehner voted NO
http://www.votesmart.org/...
It would be a shame to the lackeys of Big Oil like Rep. Boehner if America actually came up with a long-term solution to the problem of our addiction to middle-eastern oil. Men like him have constantly blocked any attempt to end this addiction, and now seek to lecture us about it?
My congressional candidate, Heather Ryan is spot-on with here analysis of the problem:
Our country is reeling from eight long years of a poor excuse for an energy policy that was designed solely for oil and energy companies. Now that the families of our nation are suffering each day because the price of a gallon of gas has tripled over the past few years, the Republican Party, my opponent included, want to give the oil companies yet another pass by allowing them to drill as much as they want, wherever they want for however long they want. This is not a true energy plan.
A true energy plan is comprehensive and includes wind power, hydroelectricity, clean coal, solar and oil. We must expand funding for alternative energy funding and research - a concept that my opponent voted against. We cannot and must not attempt to "drill our way out" of the mess the Bush administration has created. It has not worked in the past and will not work any better for the future.
http://www.ryanforkentucky.com/...
We simply must push back against the idea Republicans are pushing that we are the cause of the mess their leader created and that they rubber-stamped. We must fight for an Energy policy that has real long-term solutions and isn't just more Corporate Welfare doled out to Big Oil. The truth of the matter is that Democrats have been trying to solve this problem for a long time now, but Republicans have consistently blocked real solutions at the behest of their corporate contributors in Big Oil. No matter which way the political winds blow, we must continue to fight for real solutions.
Help us elect a member of Congress that will do just that, and push back against men like John Boehner here, who create problems and then try to fool the American people with ridiculous publicity stunts:
Comments are closed on this story.