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Townhall...
Love Oil And It Loves
You Back
By Katie Kieffer
Listening to morning shows is a good way to wind up in a psychiatrist’s
office. I flip between 300 channels and have three basic choices: Bad
economic news, high-profile violence or cotton candy interviews with
reality stars. I try switching to Twitter and a trending topic is a
cobra that escaped from the Bronx Zoo. I almost choke on my Pop-Tart.
I’m tired of negative news and hearing people whine without offering
solutions. So, I’m defying the world by being optimistic.
What makes me happy? Oil. Oil makes me think happy thoughts.
If you turn on your TV, you’ll probably find some Debbie Downer
“reporting” that BP is essentially an underground mafia and U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder and the DOJ may bring BP executives to
justice for manslaughter, regardless of whether they were directly
involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and despite the government’s
own negligence in overseeing the Deepwater Horizon well.
Even a Hollywood environmentalist like Avatar director James Cameron
admits that the U.S. needs oil. He recently told TIME Magazine, “We’re
going to need it regardless no matter how fast you move off oil. We’re
not there yet—renewables make up maybe 3% of the grid, even if it’s
changing fast. ... I’m speaking from a U.S. perspective, and you still
need oil—you need it for trucks and airplanes. You need it for fuel.”
There you have it. Straight from Hollywood Happyville. America needs
oil.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. recently made similar comments with regard to green
technology in cars. When Chevrolet released its electric model called
the Volt this year and Consumer Reports failed to give it a stellar
review, Earnhardt, Jr. said: “…the technology isn’t there yet…”
Cameron and Earnhardt, Jr.’s words make sense when you think about them
this way: When Tiger Woods was three years old, what if his coach and
father, Earl, had told him, “Tiger, you are going to win the Masters
this year.” Or what if he had said, “Tiger, in five years, you are
going to win the Masters.”
Certainly, at three years old and at eight years old, Tiger had the
potential to win not one but four Masters and many other awards. But,
it would have been ridiculous and counterproductive if Tiger’s dad had
demanded that he win a green jacket when he was still developing as an
athlete.
Likewise, it is dangerous for us to pressure alternative energy to
replace oil now or in the near future. I’d like to fuel my car with
algae, and, right now, it’s not practical. Maybe it will be in the
future.
We have vast oil reserves here in America. Think Alaska’s ANWR, Utah’s
oil sands, and countless deepwater drilling opportunities. Plus, new
Gallup polls indicate Americans support drilling for oil in increasing
numbers.
But, political correctness keeps the EPA and this Administration from
listening to the majority of Americans while shaping energy policy:
Timeline of Inconsistency
• 2009: Newly elected President Obama lends $2
billion to Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil corporation, via the Export
Import Bank of the U.S. (Bush appointees on Ex-Im’s board approved the
preliminary commitment).
• March, 2010: President Obama proposes “compromise”
to drill offshore for oil and natural gas “along the Atlantic
coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska,”
reports The New York Times.
• April 20, 2010: Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
• May 4, 2010: The White House says it will keep the
“boot on the throat” of BP.
• May 27, 2010: Department of Interior announces a
six-month ban on deepwater drilling, despite lack of scientific support
for a moratorium.
• December 1, 2010: President reverses decision to
re-open drilling and keeps the moratorium indefinite for most areas.
• January 3, 2011: President reneges and allows 13
companies to return to 16 existing and mostly exploratory deepwater
wells.
• March 19, 2011: President visits Brazil with the
pledge: “… when you’re ready to start selling (oil), we want to be one
of your best customers.”
• March 30, 2011: President announces specific,
politically correct green energy goals. He places blame on the
petroleum industry while his effective ban on new deepwater drilling
persists since drilling permits are being issued at a snail’s pace.
Oil is amazing. It represents opportunities for wealth, freedom, health
and security that we are snubbing our noses at so we can be “green”
prematurely. Indeed, thriving economies produce clean environments and
longer life spans, explains Forbes.
The most positive thing that could happen to America would be economic
stability. Drilling for oil would create jobs, lower gas prices,
enhance national security and boost consumer spending. Let’s turn off
the negative voices and embrace oil for the sake of happiness and
prosperity.
Read it with links at Townhall
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