Ollie, that's an interesting article given the below articles. Does anyone know or remember how much oil and natural gas we have available here in the US??? Some of you guys work in the oil fields.
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A "None of the Above" Approach to Energy Policy
Based on its current handling of energy policy, it appears as if the federal government is adopting a "none of the above" approach that discourages the development of American energy and imposes higher energy prices on all consumers. In only six months time Washington has placed numerous roadblocks in front of plans to develop American energy sources that would create jobs and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Consider the following developments:
Nuclear: The first budget of the new Administration cut funding for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository, making it nearly impossible for the United States to expand nuclear energy production, a necessary precondition if we want to promote a low-carbon energy regime.
Offshore Drilling:
The Department of the Interior decided to make an inefficient and bureaucratic offshore drilling permitting process even more inefficient and bureaucratic. The Obama administration ordered the Department of the Interior to delay permitting for offshore oil operations, effectively halting American energy production through government red tape.
Oil Shale: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has halted research, development, and demonstration leases for energy entrepreneurs who were hoping to develop oil shale reserves in Utah and Colorado.
Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Energy Secretary Steven Chu has proposed cutting off all funding for hydrogen fuel cell research and development despite the fact that General Motors., Daimler AG, Toyota and Honda are on the verge of developing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that have been touted as an innovative energy solution that will help reduce auto emissions.
Cap & Trade: The House of Representatives has decided to make energy more expensive by passing a cap & trade program that could cause the United States to lose 9.4 trillion dollars worth of GDP from 2012 to 2035
and could cost the United States nearly 400,000 jobs every year on average.
Citizens across the country must be wondering, why are Washington politicians so out of touch? Who would willingly support policies that will lead to higher energy taxes, increased energy prices, and a continued dependence on foreign oil?
Irrational policy decisions can only be reversed by clear and innovative solutions that embrace market principles. The best way to solve our country's energy problems would be for Washington to embrace a Full Power energy approach that utilizes all domestic sources of energy and creates incentives that reward innovation, rather than creating new punishments that raise energy prices, kill jobs, and further empower politicians and bureaucrats. Only then will our country be in a position to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, clean up our environment, and create new energy jobs.
http://www.americansolutions.com/energy/2009/07/a-none-of-the-above-approach-to-energy-policy.php
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Let Oil Markets Work
Placing regulatory limits on oil trading is a terrible idea. This is the latest example of the government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. We ought to allow oil markets to trade unencumbered, without government meddling, or limits, or controls on both large and small investors. This creates the broadest possible base and the largest possible volume. This approach -- unsurprisingly -- creates an efficient market.
Oil prices are continuing to fall as economic fears linger among investors. What's so hard to grasp about this story? Look, if President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the White House advisers managed to misjudge the economy, why can't we cut some slack for the oil traders who decided oil demand won't be so strong?
By the way, if we would stabilize the value of the dollar, oil prices would probably be less volatile. And speaking of volatility, have you taken a look at the VIX index for stocks? It has been incredibly volatile of late. And yet I don't hear tinhorn, flatfooted politicians calling for a limit to stocks. Do you?
England's Gordon Brown and France's Nicholas Sarkozy wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed yesterday saying oil prices need government supervision. Nonsense. Oil prices need market supervision, and Brown and Sarkozy need adult supervision. They need to stop meddling in markets and attempting to control prices.
Here's the key:
If Team Obama would deregulate energy, drill, drill, drill, and make it easier for our Canadian cousins to send us oil from the oil sands in Alberta, oil prices would be a whole lot lower with greater inventory supplies. And our enemies in the Middle East would be a whole lot poorer.
Yes, I believe oil trading and any other market trading should be totally transparent. But various forms of market meddling and price controls would be an unmitigated disaster.
Finally, the markets will move offshore if we mess with them.
So let market freedom rule. Drill, drill, drill. Work with Canada. Stabilize the dollar. And accept the fact that markets always work better than government planners do.
Why is this so difficult for Washington to grasp?
http://www.americansolutions.com/energy/2009/07/let-oil-markets-work.php
