House Republicans will be ready to use President Obama’s gaffe about the private sector “doing fine” when they bring their Domestic Energy and Jobs Act to the floor for a vote next week.
“One of the areas where we can improve the private sector is to have an energy debate about jobs but actually an energy policy for America,” GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on a conference call today.
The package of bills — all of which passed out of committee with bipartisan support — pushed by McCarthy’s House Energy Action Team are intended to spur job growth while lowering energy costs.
Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) is the author of one of those bills, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act.
“The point of this legislation is essentially to cut the red tape so that those who want to go up there and try to get those resources can,” Hastings said today, calling the current process “very, very burdensome.”
“This is a petroleum reserve in which there are potentially billions of barrels of oil; we just can’t get to it because of the red tape,” he added. “When we produce American energy, we produce good-paying American jobs.”
Noting that Obama’s “actions are 180 degrees from the rhetoric,” the chairman stressed that the only new area Obama opened up for drilling that was not in place before was Virginia.
“I don’t think there’s any question that this administration is not threatening, for lack of a better term, fossil fuels,” Hastings said. “This administration has clearly gone against coal, has clearly gone against oil and natural gas, trying to promote its green energy policy.”
Aside from the president being “180 degrees from the truth” on his energy record, Hastings said, his agency needs to untie the hands of energy producers.
“If I’ve heard this once, I’ve heard it dozens of times from the private sector: tell me what the rules are and then don’t change the rules,” Hastings said today. “Certainty is really what the job creators in this country want.”
“No sector of our economy is better situated to power job creation than the energy industry,” said Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who also has a bill in the package that would link any drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to opening up new lands to oil and gas development.
It also comes to the floor at a time when the White House has dialed back on its energy message to the same degree that prices have eased for many at the pump. And while it promises to sail through the House, it will face an uphill climb in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“They’ve tried to stay quiet on this,” McCarthy said of administration pushback. “One of the main reasons why: they don’t want the facts out there.”
While gas prices have eased for some, he noted, Californians are paying more than $4 a gallon.
Hence, the GOP strategy of highlighting how much better some areas of America are doing than others thanks to domestic energy production booms, such as North Dakota, which the HEAT team made the centerpiece of its recent energy tour and which has surpassed every state but Texas in production.
“I think it’s something that could actually be bipartisan,” McCarthy said of the bill’s anticipated trip through the upper chamber.
You don’t understand. There was a three Stooges scene once where they were at a lake, and there was a sign that said “fine for fishing”. So Larry decided that it was fine to fish. Until the game warden showed up.
What Obama was really saying is that the private sector can’t help but get fined with all the new regs.
“While gas prices have eased for some, he noted, Californians are paying more than $4 a gallon.”
I seem to remember quite awhile ago when gas prices started coming down off a very high level. A politician said that it would be okay to raise the taxes on gas since the people were already used to paying the higher price.
California is so cash strapped I doubt they will ever see anything less than $4.00 a gallon again.
Let’s compare the recent financial conditions of two states, California and North Dakota. California pursued a “green” economy and North Dakota pursued an “oil” economy.
California has annual budget deficits exceeding $15 billion, 12% unemployment, and over $50 billion in debt. California has massive oil and gas reserves, but the state won’t allow access to them. The state’s green economy efforts have been a dismal failure, producing no real jobs or revenues while costing billions.
North Dakota on the other hand chose to utilize their oil and gas reserves. North Dakota currently has no real unemployment and hundreds of millions in annual budget surpluses.
North Dakota has shown how a resource-rich state can quickly work its way out of debt, while creating jobs and without raising taxes. Unfortunately, California’s government is far too stupid to grasp the concept.
With all the new discoveries off-shore and in the mountainous west the US could control the price of oil and gas world wide with the right production. Like wise require the oil companies to build more refineries as a requisite to getting drilling permits and the price of gas world wide would drop. Remember people that this country was built on inexpensive energy and labor and returning to inexpensive energy would go a long way to putting the US on the right track in all areas.