Conservative Talking Points views America's energy policy as a joke over the past 30 years with an ever increasing import ratio and a non-existent energy production growth trend.
Domestic Production On Public Land Slashed
· After the BP Macondo accident in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama basically banned deep water offshore drilling and the rig count has never recovered with less than half of them returning and producing as of July 2012. (Source: The Advocate – July 2012)
· Drilling permits granted rose 58% under Clinton 1992-2000 (Source: Bureau of Land – 2011)
· Drilling permits granted rose 116% under Bush 2001-2008 (Source: Bureau of Land – 2011)
· Drilling permits granted fell 36% under Obama 2009-2011 (Source: Bureau of Land – 2011)
Keystone Pipeline – Friendly Energy
· The Keystone XL pipeline would have transported more than half as much oil each year as the United States currently imports annually from Saudi Arabia. (Source: Washington Post – January 2012)
· America already has a network of more than 100,000 miles of crude trunk and gathering pipeline and the Keystone pipeline will add about 1,700 more miles. (Source: OilOnline.com – May 2012)
· The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would generate jobs - 20,000 initially for construction and hundreds long term. (Source: The Economist – June 2011)
· Since 79% of our oil consumption at the end of 2011 came from North America, if we increase our drilling and international pipeline capacity by only 21%, we can finally be free of Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil. (Source: Human Events – April 2012)
· TransCanada’s existing 2,154-mile Keystone pipeline from Alberta to Cushing OK, has delivered 240 million barrels of Canadian oil safely to American markets since 2010. (Source: New York Times – May 2012.
It Started With Carter
· During the Jimmy Carter years we had a natural gas shortage, gasoline lines and rationing, nationwide slowdown to 55MPH and very high gasoline prices. (Source: Washington Examiner - Jul 2009)
· In 1978 the Islamic extremists took over Iran and Iranian oil exports ceased creating a shortfall of 4-5% yet prices increased 150% due to global panic. (Source: RMI.org - Aug 2009)
Imported Energy
· America currently imports 60% of our total oil consumption and the majority comes from the following countries: Canada-15%, Arab and North African Counties (That Hate Us) – 23%, Mexico-20%. (Source: NPR - Apr 2012)
· The economic penalties of America's oil dependence total $297.2 to $304.9 billion annually. (Source: National Defense Council Foundation - Apr 2008)
· The Chinese made a deal with Cuban leader Fidel Castro to drill into massive oil reserves within sight of Key West, Florida. Yet, our Congress has banned American companies from drilling there. (Source: America Free Press - May 2006)
Domestic Deposits Available
· Congress has banned oil activity from more than 300 million acres of federal land onshore and more than 460 million acres offshore in the past 20 years. 67% of oil reserves and 40% of natural gas reserves are on federal lands in America's western states and banned from drilling. (Source: ANWR.org - Jan 2005)
· The shale deposits in the Green River region of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming hold the equivalent of approximately 2 trillion barrels of oil ready for us to explore and process. (Source: Fossil.Energy.Gov)
· In 2007 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which is equivalent to 33B barrels of oil (18 years of domestic oil production), were found in the Haynesville Shale. (Source: Reuters - May 2009)
· 80% of the energy for America's transportation, industry, government and residential needs comes from oil, gas and coal. (Source: ANWR.org - Jan 2005)
ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) Ready To Drill
· The ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) coastal plain contains an estimated 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil which could provide an additional 30 to 50 years of reliable supply. (Source: ANWR.org - Jan 2005)
· The USGS calculates a yield of 16B barrels of oil (what the U.S. imports just from Saudi Arabia over 30 years) that can be pulled from a tiny 2,000-acre plot leaving a full 99.99% of ANWR untouched by exploration. (Source: ANWR.org - Jan 2005)
Go Nuclear
· 436 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries produce 372,000 MegaWatts which is 15% of the world's electricity. (Source: World Nuclear - Aug 2009)
· The USA's nuclear electrical production only accounts for 20% compared to 25% by Japan and Germany, 35% by South Korea and a whopping 75% by France. (Source: World Nuclear - Aug 2009)
· With nearly 40 years of nuclear energy providing power to the USA there have been no deaths or serious injuries to any American including the events at Three Mile Island in 1979. (Source: Reuters - Mar 2009)
Alaskan Pipeline
· In 1977 the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the world's largest privately funded construction project at $8B that took 3 years to build, started the oil flowing from the Arctic Ocean to Prince William Sound. Environmentalists feared harm to the caribou for naught because due to the warmth of the pipeline their numbers flourished with the Central Arctic caribou herd growing from 6,000 in 1977 to 27,128 by 2006. (Source: PBS, The Alaskan Pipeline - Apr 2006)
· Environmentalists warned of disaster if an earthquake hit the pipeline. But in Nov of 2002 a huge 7.9-magnitude once-in-a-600-year earthquake hit Alaska's Denali National Park and the pipeline "withstood the powerful quake just as designed - damaged but not ruptured". (Source: Los Angeles Times - Nov 2002)
Continue Domestic Coal Production
· America's coal reserves stand at 275 billion tons which is an amount that is greater than any other nation in the world. We are capable of meeting domestic demand for more than 250 years at current rates of consumption. (Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA) - Aug 2009)
· Coal plants accounted for 52% of the electricity generated. (Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA) - Aug 2009)
Energy Quotes
· "People use fossil fuels because the good Lord put them on earth for us to use." - Fred Palmer, VP (Source: Peabody Energy - Nov 2007)
· "No matter how advanced our economy might be, no matter how sophisticated our equipment becomes, for the foreseeable future we will still depend on fossil fuels." - Presidential candidate, George W. Bush (Source: Speech - Oct 2000)
Climate Change Bill Kills
· The climate-change Waxman-Marley 1,427-page bill passed by the House on June 26, 2009, adjusted for inflation to 2009 dollars will result in: (1) between 2012 and 2035 have cumulative GDP losses of $9.4T, (2) net job losses of 1.9M in 2012 and 2.5M by 2035 (3) A typical family of four will pay an additional $829 each year for energy and (4) gasoline prices will rise by 58% ($1.38 p/Gal), along with household electric rates increasing by 90%. (Source: Heritage Foundation - Aug 2009)
· This climate change bill states every home owner shall get an energy audit that adheres directly to RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network) standards which can cost home owners tens of thousands of dollars BEFORE they can sell it. (Source: Anchorage Examiner - Jul 2009)