Posted by
Rich on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:01:34 AM
According to the Heritage Foundation:
High
energy costs were a big reason why liberal efforts to institute a
carbon tax failed earlier this month in the Senate. Now emboldened
conservatives are moving to further help American consumers by pushing
for the lifting of government bans on energy development. In April 2007
only 41% of Americans favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Today, 57% of Americans favor drilling in coastal and wilderness areas currently off limits.
The
typical liberal response to calls for more domestic oil production is
that drilling will not help lower prices significantly. For example,
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says,
“Even by their own standards, drilling in ANWR by the year 2030 would
save 1 penny off the price per gallon.” While the estimated 10 to 13
billion barrels of oil currently off limits in ANWR may not drive down
the price of oil by itself, liberals are vastly underselling the
potential domestic energy possibilities currently off limits thanks to
federal bans. Just last week liberals in Congress rejected a proposal
to allow drilling for oil 50 miles of the U.S. coast. The U.S. Minerals
Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420
trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer
continental shelf.
And there is also plenty of energy currently
banned from production onshore, too. The Department of Interior
estimates onshore energy in the West and Alaska contains 31 billion
carrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That
31 billion barrels of oil represents U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia for
50 years and the 231 trillion cubc feet of natural gas is enoug to
supply all of America’s households for 46 years.
Then there
is the granddaddy of them all: the oil shale in Green River Formation,
which goes through Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. According to a RAND Corp. study
, there are 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels worth of oil shale in
the Green River Formation. That is more than triple the proven oil
reserves of Saudi Arabia. At $95 a barrel, it was not economically
viable to develop these resources, but at $130 it definitely is.
Furthermore, Shell Oil scientists have already conducted small-scale
field tests that if replicated on a large scale would make developing
the oil shale profitable at $20 a barrel. Are liberals in Congress
anxious to see this oil help American consumers? No. Just last week
they voted to extend their ban on oil shale development.
Want to know who is for Americans and who is against Americans. Just look at the numbers. Any questions?