“Of course, he’s right — to a point,” the DC-based energy group told one of our reputable online news services in an e-mail. “In classic fashion, he’s using a technicality to skirt the facts and keep the myth of energy scarcity alive,” the IER email said. “The reality is that the U.S. has enough recoverable oil for the next 200 years, despite only having 2 percent of the world’s current proven oil reserves.” (Emphasis added.) “Declaring that “the U.S. has only 2% of the world’s oil,” which Barry has done, “is akin to saying that the only gasoline we will have is that which is in our tanks,” said IER. “The president should know better, and if he does not, his secretaries of Energy and Interior should tell him.” I should think that it would be pretty obvious by now, to everybody, that Barry does know better, and he most certainly doesn't need anyone to be telling him. He has simply made a conscious decision to lie to the American people.
But what Barry purposely leaves out, again according to the IER, is, technically. recoverable oil, is oil we know about but that we cannot access because of government regulations. “Proven oil reserves are not all of our oil resources—not even close,” the group said. According to statistics provided by the IER, the United States has 1,442 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. And has been reported by a number of sources, oil production on federal lands declined in fiscal year 2011 from fiscal year 2010 by 11 percent, and natural gas production on federal lands dropped by 6 percent during the same timeframe. In contrast, oil production on private and state lands accounted for the entire increase, reported the IER, as production was up 14 percent from 2010 to 2011. Natural gas also was up 12 percent from 2010 to 2011.
Just last Sunday, John Hofmeister, author of “Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider,” spoke on C-Span's Washington Journal about the rising costs of gasoline in the United States. “The problem is that we have had no plan in this country to take care of ourselves. We have been living off imports for most of the last 30, 40 years,” Hofmeister said. “And while we are in a nation that has more oil than Saudi Arabia, that has more oil than we’ll ever need, we have a government policy, Republican and Democratic governments alike, that have prohibited oil companies from accessing natural resources in this country,” he said. He also said that American consumers are paying more at the pump because “we haven’t had a plan to produce domestic energy,” adding that “we’ve imported it for too long.”
Hofmeister, who I think it worth mentioning is a registered Democrat, explained that the United States is producing more oil than when Barry "Almighty" took office because of “decisions made in the 3-to-5 year period looking backward -- not the last three years.” He explained that it takes about three to five years to bring on production in oil fields. Barry is also “conveniently selecting a number based on a narrow definition Securities and Exchange Commission on proven reserves,” said Hofmeister. “There are two other categories called probable reserves and possible reserves. He ignores them completely. Hofmeister conceded that the president is right that we cannot just drill the country into an oil utopia, and said we need a comprehensive plan. However, he added that wind and solar “do nothing for transportation fuels.”
So Barry continues to blow smoke up our collective butt, at the same time he continues to do pretty much nothing that would, in any meaningful way, work toward bring down the price of gas. And, as always with this guy, he works to take credit for the work done by the many others who are actually working very hard to bring more oil to market. I think most of us are aware that Barry’s desire here is to make it nearly impossible for any oil new exploration to take place on what is referred to as being "public lands." At the same time, he is determined to at least attempt to take credit for any boost in oil production that is taking place, essentially, in spite of his policies, not because of his policies. I'm sure that many of us still remember when not all that long ago he was heard to say that his primary goal was to make energy costs skyrocket. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize the fact that that’s what is now taking place.
What just tickles me to no end is that no reporter has bothered to ask, 'Well if oil production is at an 8 year high, how do you explain the price at the pump?" For some reason, reporters seem to often miss the obvious questions.
ReplyDeleteThat's a rhetorical statement, right? Can you imagine the grilling our buddy Barry would be taking if he was a Republican? Every single headline, every single day would be trumpeting the fact that our president is doing nothing while working Americans continue to struggle with the rapidly rising price of gas. But since he's a scumbag Democrat there's nary a word. Can you say liberal bias?
DeleteIf you all want to complain about the oil prices then call OPEC. Try not to divulge into things you clearly do not understand. It's easy to point and shout, it's another thing to actually educate yourself on all the aspects that determine gas prices. If you knew then you would not simply point a collective finger at whoever is President.
ReplyDeleteOPEC only has as much control over prices as we allow them to have. Our having a president that they know abhors drilling pretty much allows them to charge whatever they want. As soon as we would begin to tap our own vast resources, they would be forced to reduce their price. The price of gas has gone up 100% since this anti-oil nut took office. And nary a word from the same Dem's who were screaming at Bush. You might want to educate yourself.
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