Charles Schumer (who is not illegitimate grandchild of Meyer Lansky) trampled a few bystanders and grabbed the microphone today to tell the American people that drilling in ANWR wouldn’t produce any oil for ten years.
Schumer took his argument right from the pages of Bill Clinton’s veto message back in 1996 when he vetoed ANWR drilling. Clinton’s energy policy was a further manifestation of his general holiday from history; gas prices weren’t sufficiently high to alarm the electorate so identifying some distant day of reward as unworthy of today’s cost was simply quintessential Clinton ambivalence.
Had Clinton opened ANWR say, ten years ago, the US would be adding around a million barrels of oil each day. That production would, of course, have a depressive affect on import prices. Depressing import prices reduces the cost to the consumer at the pump-and everywhere else that imported oil affects the economy.
So the ten years have passed (and even two more) and we still don’t have the price depressing effect of greater domestic oil production. Unlike Clinton, Schumer is blocking domestic oil production (through six years of filibuster in 01-06) as energy prices in general, and oil and gasoline prices in particular, take a rocket ship to Uranus.
Schumer’s Democrats have no answer to oil prices other than demonize George Bush and Dick Cheney and the oil industry. That tiresome tactic of hitting a target that refuses to fight back won’t put cheaper gas in my car-how about yours?
Schumer took his argument right from the pages of Bill Clinton’s veto message back in 1996 when he vetoed ANWR drilling. Clinton’s energy policy was a further manifestation of his general holiday from history; gas prices weren’t sufficiently high to alarm the electorate so identifying some distant day of reward as unworthy of today’s cost was simply quintessential Clinton ambivalence.
Had Clinton opened ANWR say, ten years ago, the US would be adding around a million barrels of oil each day. That production would, of course, have a depressive affect on import prices. Depressing import prices reduces the cost to the consumer at the pump-and everywhere else that imported oil affects the economy.
So the ten years have passed (and even two more) and we still don’t have the price depressing effect of greater domestic oil production. Unlike Clinton, Schumer is blocking domestic oil production (through six years of filibuster in 01-06) as energy prices in general, and oil and gasoline prices in particular, take a rocket ship to Uranus.
Schumer’s Democrats have no answer to oil prices other than demonize George Bush and Dick Cheney and the oil industry. That tiresome tactic of hitting a target that refuses to fight back won’t put cheaper gas in my car-how about yours?
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9 comments:
And McCain will do exactly what about this?
Keep us in Iraq for 100 years. That should stabilize the price of oil.....not.
Teddy
have you no shame?
Blaming the Dems for high oil prices because of Anwr? The reserves there are less than 2% of our needs and 10 years before the oil flows?
I guess during all those years of GOP control that the Dems prevented the oil companies from expanding refining capacity?
Do you think it may be the secret Cheney energy meetings?
Not in demented teddy FN Sporer BFD land!
2000 gas is $1.29
2008 gas is $3.57
Vote GOP yeah
Ted:
McCain WILL NOT drill in ANWR, he WILL NOT drill in the Gulf or off the Flori-duh coast. McCain also favors emissions caps on vehicles to combat "global warming."
Johnny Mac has no fucking clue.
According to the DOE (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_wpsup_k_w.htm), the US consumes around 20 million barrels of oil per day. According to you (I made no attempt to verify your numbers), drilling in ANWR in 1996 would now be supplying us with 1 million barrels per day, or 5% of our total usage. Oil from ANWR would not be free, but it could conceivably have a greater than 5% impact on prices because it would be perceived to be a stable supply on the market. In any case, even assuming it could lower prices by 10% to 15%, we would still be paying $3/gallon for gas, which hardly seems to support your argument.
Of course, all of this ignores the principles of supply and demand. US oil consumption (and reliance on foreign oil) will decrease when oil becomes too expensive. We seem to be at that point now. This is anecdotal, but I have increasingly heard people talking about driving less, biking, etc. A quick search on Google turns up a couple results (e.g. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/24/gas_costs_forcing_drivers_to_cut_back/).
We probably should have cut back on energy usage years ago, but since energy prices were low, we didn't need to. Now we need to, and ANWR doesn't really change that.
Anon has a good point. We don't have the refining capacity right now and that is helping put a squeeze on the supply.
McCain still has no fucking clue, though.
I blame GOP CA Guv Arnold for driving that Hummer for so long.
Spearer this ranks in the top five of the biggest loads of shit you've posted in here. What, were you drunk when you typed up this horse-shit?
Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
So much for being the party of lower taxes.
The Congressional Budget Office says current cap-and-trade legislation (McCain/Lieberman) would amount to a $1.2 TRILLION tax hike on the American economy over the next ten years.
Way to go, Republicans!!
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