A President On Strike Against Energy

A President On Strike Against Energy
By John Ransom
3/15/2011

On energy, Obama’s got a case of the “blue-flu.”

In revolt against the most productive sectors of our energy industry- oil, natural gas and coal- Obama wants instead to create make work programs for “alternative,” and “green” energy schemes, which amount to a sit-down strike against the energy security of the country.

Congressman Jeff Landry (R-LA) blasted President Obama’s lack of an energy policy as “reckless” yesterday, in light of the disasters involving nuclear power in Japan that have developed this week and strategic concerns about supply in the Middle East.

On Sunday Landry also appeared on Fox News, challenging Obama to stop shying away from fears and start solving America’s energy problems.

Obama has been touting U.S. oil production figures since Libya and the nuclear disaster in Japan again put the spotlight on the lack of energy policy followed by the administration. So far the “comprehensive energy” policy followed by the Democrats under Obama should be titled: How to Build Unicorns and Rainbows for $1 Trillion.

“It’s disingenuous for him to take credit” for actions taken by other administrations said Landry, regarding the president’s claim that oil production is going up. In fact, Landry says that oil production will be going down because of policies promoted by the administration. Landry estimates that the administration has hurt domestic production by as much as 16 percent.

Landry, who represents Louisiana’s 3rd congressional district, which is heavily dependent on the energy business, points out that the U.S. has the best strategic reserves in the world in the Gulf of Mexico “and it comes at little or no cost to the taxpayer.”

If Obama isn’t going to use our domestic energy supply, can the rest of us borrow it for awhile?

The administration has put on hold permits to drill in the Gulf, despite court orders that have found the drilling ban to be too broad. According to Bloomberg, some of the permits have been waiting for nine months in a process that used to take two weeks to complete.

Just last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar even filed an appeal to a court order entered in June 2010 telling the administration to stop dragging its feet on permitting. Salazar contends that the forced review of permits contemplated by the court would mean the administration will deny all permits because they would lack adequate review.

In typical Obama administration double-speak Salazar’s appeal says that forcing the administration to review permits as a matter of course would guarantee that permitting would grind to a halt: “[The] Court’s Orders will greatly harm …the efficient development of oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, as well as potentially harm the near-term interests of the operators who submitted the subject applications.”

Thank goodness they don’t want to harm the oil business. I hate to see them deliberately screw it up as badly as they have. It gives me great comfort to know they are fouling up energy policy in this country only accidentally.

Like so much regarding the class of people wielding executive power in this country, Obama’s policy comes down to this: “If you force me to do my job, I’m going on strike.”

From abandoning the Defense of Marriage Act, to abandoning the states on border security, to terror non-enforcement, to thumbing his nose to the courts on oil drilling, it’s hard to find someone in America less willing to do his job than Obama has been.

After all, even Milwaukee public school teachers eventually went back to work. Obama on the other hand is still on strike.

“Mr. President,” challenges Landry, “how is it responsible for us to call on other nations to increase their oil production and capacity, when you are unwilling to simply issue 32 permits for drilling operations that were running last year and suspended by you?”

Landry makes sense. The permits in question would not just increase our oil supply but it would also put Americans back to work

And that leads to a last question:

If the president isn’t going to do his job, could he at least let the rest of us do ours?