Obama's low energy America

Human Events:

President Obama loves to talk about energy independence. In his 2012 State of the Union address, he said he wanted to “lay out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last—an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.” He also called for “an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.”

The president mentioned energy two dozen times during his speech, but his actions are so strongly at odds with his words that he deserves credit for being able to keep a straight face while addressing Congress. Does he really think Americans have forgotten that he slapped down the Keystone XL pipeline project, just a week ago? Or that he destroyed the American offshore drilling industry in 2009?

Obama’s actions are not temporary mistakes that can be easily corrected by his successors. Those offshore drilling platforms are mobile. They were towed away to other oil fields, such as those off the coast of Brazil, where Obama spent billions of dollars to encourage the very same industry he forbids Americans to pursue, only to see Brazil decide to sell its oil to China, which struck a far better deal.

As for the Canadian oil that would have been carried into America by the Keystone XL pipeline, well, that’s probably going to China, too. Obama is murder on American commerce, but he has been very good for China.

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 The Sierra Club, in fact, is putting forth an argument that rings familiar and is as empty today as it was 40 years ago. The group argues that building the infrastructure will only encourage and prolong American dependence on oil, suggesting that by not supporting oil infrastructure, America will be forced to turn away from it and pressed to find successful alternatives. For those with long memories, especially in California, this thinking echoes the anti-freeway construction advocates of the 1970s – if new freeways encourage development and population expansion and the objective is to curb growth (at least for the anti-growthers of the time), then let’s not build freeways. Did not building the I-105 freeway stop Southern California growth? Hardly. California’s population nearly doubled to 37.6 million by mid-2011 from 19.95 million in 1970. And the I-105 eventually was built. The point is, the argument is all but empty. America is not likely to stop using oil anytime soon, and energy innovation will come whether or not the pipeline is built. Demand in world energy markets is intensifying and widespread “green sentiment” on left and right will push for it.

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It is the same old failed argument from Big Green that created the energy shortages of the past.  It is time to ignore these people and Obama and pursue and aggressive energy policy that creates American energy.