Democrats' hatred of energy production

Ben Lieberman:

Has the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries infiltrated Congress? If so, that sure would explain the latest energy bill.

Make that the anti-energy bill. Both the already-passed Senate version and the upcoming House one are bad enough for what they do contain. But they're worse for what they don't — even one drop of additional domestic oil.

America remains the world's only oil-producing nation that has placed a significant amount of its reserves off-limits. Yet the lawmakers behind these misguided "energy" bills seem more than happy to keep it that way.

Make no mistake, there is still plenty of oil to be found here. A recent Interior Department study estimates 21 billion barrels of oil lie untapped beneath federally controlled lands, mostly in the West and Alaska. That equals 30 years of current imports from Saudi Arabia.

There's a lot of natural gas as well. Unfortunately, the department found "just 3 percent of onshore federal oil and 13 percent onshore Federal gas are accessible under standard lease terms." In other words, only this tiny percentage of energy can be produced without serious legal or regulatory impediments. Some of the rest is accessible, but only if energy companies wade through all the red tape.

Most disturbing of all, "51 percent of oil and 27 percent of the natural gas are presently closed to leasing" — or completely off-limits.

Granted, few Americans want unrestricted oil and gas wells in our treasured national parks or historical sites. However, the current drilling restrictions go well beyond any such reasonable limits. This is especially true given advances in drilling technology that have dramatically reduced both the above-ground environmental footprint and the risk of spills.

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I am not in the oil and gas business although I have leased the mineral rights to my land. But, I find the phobias about finding and exploiting mineral production ridiculous in the extreme. I don't even agree with Lieberman's concern about looking for oil and gas in National Parks. Many of my neighbors have wells or production facilities on their property and it is no more disruptive than putting a manufacturing facility on their property and it is a lot less polluting than a feed lot. It is usually also more lucrative. The Democrat hatred of energy production is robbing the US treasury of money that could reduce the tax burden on the economy and is making us more dependent on those who are not as interested in our national security. The Democrats have become the Luddites of energy production even opposing wind generators of which there are many in Texas also. Their hatred of energy production is undermining our national security and driving up the cost of living. People should take notice and quit electing Democrats to anything.

Gateway Pundit, evidently not trapped in the Gateway arch, notes with graphic display the Pelosi-Reid effect on gas prices.