If the democrats weren't beholden to environmental special interest groups who line their coffers financially, we might be energy independent right now.

quote:

For several decades, the Democratic Party has pursued policies designed to drive up the cost of petroleum, and therefore gas at the pump. Remarkably, the Democrats don't seem to have taken much of a political hit from the current spike in gas prices. Probably that's because most people don't realize how different the two parties' energy policies have been.

Congressman Roy Blunt put together these data to highlight the differences between House Republicans and House Democrats on energy policy:

ANWR Exploration House Republicans: 91% Supported House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

SUMMARY

91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.

86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

Source

Also remember the democrat-controlled Congress during the Nixon administration when the 3 dollar a barrel cap was lifted, and Carter's subsequent new bureaucracy, the Department of Energy.

How about blaming market forces ? Supply and demand.

Oil production in Iraq is small to nonexistent.
Iran too is producing a lot less than it used to.

And world demand for oil is higher than it ever was before.

regards JakobA

<edit added>
Or we could blame the American consumers who keep paying however high the price is.
</edit>

It would be nice to be able to have a conversation about a serious subject without partisanism polluting it.

I'm not quite sure what those statistics Kegler cited are supposed to mean, but I have some others, that don't do a bunch of worthless finger-pointing.

It's possible that the partisans here will dismiss this information because it's published by Democrats. But if this is fact, well...it's fact.

The House Natural Resources Committee has published a report that points out:

a. Since the 1990s, the federal government has consistently encouraged the development of its oil and gas resources and the amount of drilling on federal lands has steadily increased during this time. The number of drilling permits has exploded in recent years, going from 3,802 five years ago to 7,561 in 2007.

b. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for development of public lands increased by more than 361%, yet gasoline prices have also risen dramatically, contradicting the argument that more
drilling means lower gasoline prices.

c. In the last four years, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land; yet, in that same time, 18,954 wells were actually drilled. That means that companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000
extra permits to drill that they are not using to increase domestic production.

d. Of the 47.5 million acres of on-shore federal lands that are currently being leased by oil and gas
companies, only about 13 million acres are actually "in production", or producing oil and gas. Similar trends are evident offshore as well, where only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased acres are currently producing oil or gas.

e. Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land and waters that they are not producing oil and gas. Oil and gas companies would not buy leases to this land without believing oil and gas can be produced there, yet these same companies are not producing oil or gas from these areas already under their control.

There's more in the report, including charts for those who don't like to read.

After thinking about all this, I offer two points:

a. Perhaps the oil companies don't want developing infrastructure and paying American workers a decent wage eating into their profits. Maybe we're simply suffering for their greed.

b. If a sound energy policy is so crucial to our national security, would it be some sort of communistic plot if the Fed just created its own energy company? Hell, if the corporations won't take care of this problem, why doesn't the government just do it? If federally-supplied gasoline cost you $2.00 a gallon, would you complain about it? I don't think anyone would - if they did, it'd just be another case of stupid people acting against their own best interest.

And some countries share the profits from their nationally-run oil companies. Imagine such a dangerous thing happening in our country.

We're spending too much time screwing around with what should be easy problems to solve - and this ridiculous partisanism is part of the problem. Think America, not some silly political party. If corporations don't want to help out, cut them out of the deal. They get break after break, and when someone tries to get them to act like Americans who give a damn, they whine. Screw 'em.

quote:

Originally posted by PeteCDR:
Also remember the democrat-controlled Congress during the Nixon administration when the 3 dollar a barrel cap was lifted, and Carter's subsequent new bureaucracy, the Department of Energy.

Anybody can drive-by post. Care to elaborate with some facts on what, exactly, he did?

It is pretty much fact based that the Dems are all completely against off-shore drilling now. Our country has the ability to be the most self suficiant country in the world, and we were at one time. Now our own government is holding up progress.

On a side note, NC's Governor, Mike Easley announced he is against off shore drilling also. He is a Democrat, and he raised the state gas tax by three cents about a year and a half ago, making NC's gas tax the highest in the Southeast US. What does that tell you?

quote:

Originally posted by BrandonKnight:
It is pretty much fact based that the Dems are all completely against off-shore drilling now. Our country has the ability to be the most self suficiant country in the world, and we were at one time. Now our own government is holding up progress.

On a side note, NC's Governor, Mike Easley announced he is against off shore drilling also. He is a Democrat, and he raised the state gas tax by three cents about a year and a half ago, making NC's gas tax the highest in the Southeast US. What does that tell you?

Is it "fact-based"? I assume that if you say such a thing you can back it up.

I guess my post was too long to read...?

quote:

Originally posted by Kegler300:
If the democrats weren't beholden to environmental special interest groups who line their coffers financially, we might be energy independent right now.

quote:

For several decades, the Democratic Party has pursued policies designed to drive up the cost of petroleum, and therefore gas at the pump. Remarkably, the Democrats don't seem to have taken much of a political hit from the current spike in gas prices. Probably that's because most people don't realize how different the two parties' energy policies have been.

Congressman Roy Blunt put together these data to highlight the differences between House Republicans and House Democrats on energy policy:

ANWR Exploration House Republicans: 91% Supported House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

SUMMARY

91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.

86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

Source

AMEN TOP!!

Whos to blame?How about those that cant leave their auto sitting still.Always on the go.They go just to be on the move.

quote:

Who's to blame for high gas prices?

Us.

And developing nations.

And the third world.

And the OPEC folks.

And the rest of the world too.

That's about it.

Pinning it 100% on certain members of congress is just about the most dishonest politiking I've seen on this site.

When we let AFTA take over in this country and Americans lost their jobs I think that had something to do with it. China, Mexico, and India are booming now which means they can afford autos which means they need gas. Our leaders in DC are to blame for sitting on their butts and doing nothing about our energy needs. Our big three in Detroit did nothing but keep building bigger gas hogs while Toyota and Honda saw the light bulb go off. The speculators are to blame because they only care about filling their pockets with gold. The Arabs sure as hell don't care, and the oil companies don't care either. But the one who is to blame the most is us. The American people for being stupid in electing these so called leaders (I call them idiots) into office. We are the ones buying the big SUV, buying the clothes that say "Made in China" and voting each year or every election in the hopes that somebody will make a change for the better when they never do.

Well, I read it McGreer and MORE drilling for a finite source does not seem the answer to me. Reducing our need for fossil fuels is the answer, but America and its love of all things gluttonous isn't ready to do that just yet.

quote:

Originally posted by mcgreer:
It would be nice to be able to have a conversation about a serious subject without partisanism polluting it.

I'm not quite sure what those statistics Kegler cited are supposed to mean, but I have some others, that don't do a bunch of worthless finger-pointing.

It's possible that the partisans here will dismiss this information because it's published by Democrats. But if this is fact, well...it's fact.

The House Natural Resources Committee has published a report that points out:

a. Since the 1990s, the federal government has consistently encouraged the development of its oil and gas resources and the amount of drilling on federal lands has steadily increased during this time. The number of drilling permits has exploded in recent years, going from 3,802 five years ago to 7,561 in 2007.

b. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for development of public lands increased by more than 361%, yet gasoline prices have also risen dramatically, contradicting the argument that more
drilling means lower gasoline prices.

c. In the last four years, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land; yet, in that same time, 18,954 wells were actually drilled. That means that companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000
extra permits to drill that they are not using to increase domestic production.

d. Of the 47.5 million acres of on-shore federal lands that are currently being leased by oil and gas
companies, only about 13 million acres are actually "in production", or producing oil and gas. Similar trends are evident offshore as well, where only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased acres are currently producing oil or gas.

e. Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land and waters that they are not producing oil and gas. Oil and gas companies would not buy leases to this land without believing oil and gas can be produced there, yet these same companies are not producing oil or gas from these areas already under their control.

There's more in the report, including charts for those who don't like to read.

After thinking about all this, I offer two points:

a. Perhaps the oil companies don't want developing infrastructure and paying American workers a decent wage eating into their profits. Maybe we're simply suffering for their greed.

b. If a sound energy policy is so crucial to our national security, would it be some sort of communistic plot if the Fed just created its own energy company? Hell, if the corporations won't take care of this problem, why doesn't the government just do it? If federally-supplied gasoline cost you $2.00 a gallon, would you complain about it? I don't think anyone would - if they did, it'd just be another case of stupid people acting against their own best interest.

And some countries share the profits from their nationally-run oil companies. Imagine such a dangerous thing happening in our country.

We're spending too much time screwing around with what should be easy problems to solve - and this ridiculous partisanism is part of the problem. Think America, not some silly political party. If corporations don't want to help out, cut them out of the deal. They get break after break, and when someone tries to get them to act like Americans who give a damn, they whine. Screw 'em.

Yeah, lets nationalize the oil fields, take them out of the publics hands since we are too dumb to handle it.

Hey, answering one partisan post with another partisan post, then trying to make it sound like you are the only one smart enough to know whats good for everyone else = Arrogance.

quote:

Originally posted by SeaWitch1220:
Well, I read it McGreer and MORE drilling for a finite source does not seem the answer to me. Reducing our need for fossil fuels is the answer, but America and its love of all things gluttonous isn't ready to do that just yet.

You know, I've just about seen it all now. The Democrats and the lefties HAVE adopted the tactic of Joseph Stalin: "We invented the light bulb." Doesn't matter if it's true or not, if you say it enough, those who are ignorant will buy it.

The DEMOCRATS in Congress are singularly and exceptionally to blame for the current situation. Gas is at $4.00 a gallon because of them. Now lets examine their excuses:

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: The oil companies (always the bad guys) are sitting on 10,000 (choose your number here because I see different ones depending on where you look) parcels of land that they have not drilled on. That means that they are not drilling to artificially raise prices.

TRUTH: Okay children, repeat after me: Oil or natural gas cannot be found under EVERY piece of land. Unfortunately, the federal government puts these pieces of land up for lease BEFORE anyone knows if there is oil or gas under them. What? You mean they PAY for a lease and THEN see if its worth drilling on? Yes children that is exactly what happens. So in actuality they may have 10,000 oil leases, with ZERO leases actually worth drilling on. Same with leases off shore. They may have the rights to drill on 90% of the coast... but 90% of the coast WON'T HAVE OIL.

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: Drilling now in ANWAR or off the coast would not effect the current price of gas.

TRUTH: At the beginning of this year, Brazil found a MAJOR oil and gas field (120 billion barrels worth) 75 miles off their coast. They have moved aggressively to develop that field. Gasoline for automobiles as a result has dropped in Brazil in anticipation of that development. Why? Commodity futures are dropping because of the expectation.

The United States produces ONLY 7 MILLION barrels of oil a day. We use considerably much more. Every day, wells shut down BECAUSE THEY ARE DRY. The Democrats, by not allowing us to drill here; drill NOW; are ensuring our dependence on Middle Eastern Oil. Oil futures are more uncertain every day: Where are we going to get what we need? Uncertainty breeds PANIC... PANIC raises prices.

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: The oil companies are experiencing record profits. These EVIL CORPORATIONS are exploiting the people in the name of these record profits... (insert socialistic rallying crys here.)

TRUTH: The percentage of risk (drilling on a dry lease) is much, much higher for those in the oil business. Percentage for profits in the oil business is much lower than in any other business.

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: Oil is a monopoly. There are only two or three major corporations that control the oil business and as a result they artificially fix prices.

TRUTH: I have no idea how many oil companies there are in the United States, but I would think that 50 would be a low number. What? You don't see more than two or three gas station brands? Remember that some oil companies ONLY deal in certain TYPES of commodities. Some, do not do anything other than provide oil to refineries. Ever hear of Occidental Oil? What about Marathon?

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: We must develop alternative sources of energy. This dependence on fossil fuels kills the environment as well.

TRUTH: Alternative sources of fuel, not based on fossil fuels ARE NOT VIABLE at this time. I would love nothing better than to outlaw gasoline powered vehicles and go to hydrogen fuel cells, but that is NOT going to happen in the near future.

Global Warming... now climate change... cannot be agreed upon among the scientists who are supposed to know about this stuff. Dictating national policy based upon questionable scientific information is just bad.

DEMOWHINER EXCUSE: Every ill in the modern world is the fault of the United States. We should become a member of the European Union and concede our soveriegnty to the United Nations. We are mean, evil, imperialists who should see the error of our ways... become a socialistic country and do whatever Chavez and Castro want us to do.

TRUTH: I knew it... it's the Demowhiner creed...

quote:

Originally posted by OldUSAFSniper:
The DEMOCRATS in Congress are singularly and exceptionally to blame for the current situation. Gas is at $4.00 a gallon because of them.

Prove it. The ANWAR solution has been debunked as the "cure all" to our problem. Getting the thimbleful of oil out of ANWAR ten years from now is going to do NOTHING to the gas prices. What about all the drilling contracts that are currently not being used eh?

Republicans had control of congress, the house and the presidency and did NOTHING so blaming "democrats" for the oil woes is pure, partisan BULLCRAP.

If we don't decrease our dependency on fossil fuels, we are sunk plain and simple. Keep buying up those SUVs!

quote:

Originally posted by SeaWitch1220:

quote:

Originally posted by OldUSAFSniper:
The DEMOCRATS in Congress are singularly and exceptionally to blame for the current situation. Gas is at $4.00 a gallon because of them.

Prove it. The ANWAR solution has been debunked as the "cure all" to our problem. Getting the thimbleful of oil out of ANWAR ten years from now is going to do NOTHING to the gas prices. What about all the drilling contracts that are currently not being used eh?

Republicans had control of congress, the house and the presidency and did NOTHING so blaming "democrats" for the oil woes is pure, partisan BULLCRAP.

If we don't decrease our dependency on fossil fuels, we are sunk plain and simple. Keep buying up those SUVs!

Okay, if you're going to go ballistic over a post, then it would be logical for you to read the ENTIRE post... But since you're a flamin left-winger, logic and facts are not your strong point. Emotion, talkin-points, and elitist snobbery seem to be the left-wing attributes of the day...

First, educate yourself... you're going to have to leave your left-wing myopic view of the world at the door. But here is the definitive report from the US Geological Society:

US Geological Society Report on ANWAR:

The most important part of this report concerns the number of barrels of recoverable oil. Notice how as the price goes up, the number of barrels also increases. You really should pay attention to the SUMMARY on the last page of the report. Also, remember that this report is completely based on the 1996 price of oil and actually takes a look at oil that reaches $30.00 a barrel!

Now, I would also remind you to remember Prudhoe Bay. That is the area where the Senate allowed drilling by a vote of 51 to 49. When the USGS did their report on Prudhoe Bay, their estimate was 20 years worth of oil. Approximately 10 billion barrels. Well, we are at 20 billion and Prudhoe Bay is still going strong.

"Republicans had control of congress, the house and the presidency and did NOTHING so blaming "democrats" for the oil woes is pure, partisan BULLCRAP. " -- And finally, let's not forget the 15 years of fillibuster that Senator Ted Kennedy led when the Republicans did have control of Congress. For 15 years the Republicans tried to pass a logical energy policy only to have it fillibustered at every turn.

You can try and hide this buffalo in the closet all you want... but this has DEMOCRAT stenciled on the side of it in big RED LETTERS...

PS

By the way, I've earmarked the oil coming from my two wells to go to a company that refines the CALIFORNIA brands of gas. I get at least 10% more from those loonies than anyone else...

Try selling your bridge in Brooklyn somewhere else. One filibuster in how many years? Again, drilling for MORE of a finite fuel is NOT the answer. The law is supply and demand right? We, obviously, are not going to have ANY increase in demand anytime soon even if allowed to pepper our landscapes with unsightly and potentially disastrous and dangerous drilling platforms. We need to decrease our DEMAND for these fossil fuels. What are you doing to decrease demand?

1. I believe we've reached Peak Oil. Nobody to blame there.
2. The weakening of the US Dollar, due in LARGE part to record deficits. Six years of Republican irresponsible borrow and spending, and a couple of years of the same borrow and spending, except a pusillanimous democratic congress that fails to curb it.