Norris Column: Obama's Covert Plan to Raise Gas Prices
President Barack Obama's energy plan involves radically increasing gas prices to the European rate of about $10 a gallon. And he's well on his way, as gas prices have more than doubled since he took office in January 2009, when gasoline was only $1.79 per gallon. And he's scheming to double prices again in his second term, with you footing the bill.
It's no secret that we're being gouged at the pumps. The reason for soaring gas prices? According to Obama, it's not because of anything he has done — not his devaluing the dollar via his disastrous economic decisions, his closing federal lands for oil production opened by his predecessor, his passing cap-and-trade legislation in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression or his refusing to stand strong against the regime in Iran, which controls 20 percent of the world's oil supply via the Strait of Hormuz.
President Obama would do well to take his own advice; in regard to the possibility of $3-a-gallon gas in 2006, the then senator said, "The time for excuses is over."
To add insult to injury, Obama has appointed some petroleum-pillaging politicians, such as Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who, according to The Wall Street Journal, said in 2008 that in order to wean Americans off gasoline, the administration should make them punitively pay at the pump: "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."
And just two weeks ago, as reported by Politico, Chu told Congress that Obama's Department of Energy "isn't working to lower gasoline prices directly" but "is working to promote alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles."
When Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss., specifically asked Chu whether the Obama administration's goal is to lower gas prices, he emphatically replied, "No." (Out of the horse's mouth!)
But I suppose the views of Obama-appointed officials such as Chu don't have any bearing on soaring gas prices, right?
Chu again embraced the strategy to raise gas prices in order to increase green alternatives to Chris Wallace, host of "Fox News Sunday," in February 2011, when he said: "The price of gasoline over the long haul should be expected to go up just because of supply and demand issues. And so we see this in the buying habits of Americans as they make choices for the next car they buy."
Increasing gas prices in order to wean us off gasoline and onto biofuel alternatives is a ruse — a deceptive strategy laid on the backs of American citizens.
This is what Obama meant two weeks ago when he repackaged and re-pitched his "new energy policy" from a gas station in Indianapolis. The words on his podium were "Investing in Energy Independence." Notice he didn't say who is doing the investing or with whose money he is investing. It might seem as if spending — I mean investing — your money is Obama's forte, but to me, it smells like more capitalism-crushing B.O. (See http://www.spreadingbo.com.)
This president has mastered cloaking the truth in oratory rhetoric. In last Saturday's presidential address, Obama hailed his oft-repeated petroleum apologetic: "While we consume 20 percent of the world's oil, we only have 2 percent of the world's oil reserves." The problem is that 2 percent to which he refers is extant reserves, not what we could produce. That's deceptive!
Speaking of misleading, this past week, Chu was at it again as he testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. Dodging a question about whether he practices what he preaches by owning an electric car, Chu replied sheepishly, "No, I don't own a car at the moment." (Before you commend him for his bio-walking, it should be noted that he's chauffeured in U.S. government Cadillac Esplanades, which, of course, run on fossil fuels like his wife's BMW.)
If you are ready for real hope and change, then I have the option for you.
I believe we can continue to seek alternative energy solutions while lowering gas prices by implementing a super energy solution, the one that former speaker of the House and current GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has proposed.
Gingrich's plan? As I noted last week, it is the polar opposite of Obama's. Newt is ready on day one of his presidency to begin to implement his plan to expand leasing of federal lands for oil and gas development, condense regulations to make it easier for companies to build new extraction sites, tap shale reservoirs, start building the Keystone XL pipeline, replace the Environmental Protection Agency with a new, economically rational Environmental Solutions Agency, and, as a result of these bold solutions, end our dependency on foreign oil, reduce the cost of gas (to $2.50 per gallon), create millions of domestic American jobs, and bring in billions of dollars of new revenue for the U.S. by making us one of the largest global exporters of various fuels.
You can get many more details of Newt's energy- and job-building plan by watching his 30-minute address at http://bit.ly/xcKGuT.
Newt and I, as well as millions of other American patriots, believe in aggressively pursuing renewable energy alternatives and development, but not at the risk of losing our petroleum and economic shorts while we're doing it. As is often the case in life and politics, the answer is "both... and..."
It bears repeating that Bloomberg Businessweek reported in November that "unlocking vast reserves of shale gas could solve the energy crisis, the jobs crisis, and the deficit."
If you are ready for real change — if you want to stabilize our economy, increase jobs, lower gas prices and restore our republic simultaneously — then shout it out to Washington and the nation: "Get off your gas! Drill, and vote Newt Gingrich!"
For many more ways in which the Obama administration is contributing to higher gas prices, see The Heritage Foundation's February 2011 report "10 Things You Need to Know About High Gas Prices and Obama's Oil Policy."
In next week's article, I'm going to reveal a video more incriminating than Andrew Breitbart's.
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Comments
Creating an Energy Crisis
Submitted by billyjack on Sun, 03/18/2012 - 12:02pm.
“Let no crisis go to waste”, Rahm Emanuel.
There appears to be a concerted effort to create an energy crisis. The Carbon Cap and Trade bill although not passed is now being implemented by bureaucratic fiat. The anti-nuclear power forces with the aid of the Japan disaster are all but assured to prohibit new nuclear power generation, although it has already been accomplished by shutting down the Yucca Mountain Waste facility. The shutting down of Gulf drilling because of the BP-Macondo will add to the crisis. Add in the propaganda in an effort to shut down hydraulic fracturing to limit access to our vast natural gas reserves. Radical environmental groups with the aid of the government are working diligently to remove dams generating electricity, the only economical form of renewable energy. Obama has shut down the Keystone pipeline forcing Canada to market their oil to China. Less public is the EPA threatening to put the Dune Sage lizard on the endangered species list removing a million acres of private land in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas from drilling. In addition, using the social justice banner the regime is also making an additional effort to slow development of domestically produced oil and gas by reducing tax incentives created for the oil and gas industry. It should become obvious that these efforts are intended to set up takeover of the energy infrastructure in which the government has had historically little control when compared to banking, auto, agriculture and health industries.
Although there is much ado about oil imports(which by the way are no longer crude oil but refined products since the Clean Air Act effectively shut down a large part of domestic refining capacity), no one seems to note that these imports are made by private companies providing a product to a willing consumer. In short, there is very little government involvement. It is no wonder we haven’t had gas lines even though we have doubled the percentage of imports than when that genius of domestic and foreign policy James Earl Carter tried to manage the situation. The government has little control of the energy infrastructure other than removing federal lands and waters from drilling, indirectly shutting down refinery capacity, the fantasy of the strategic petroleum reserve and wasting taxpayer funds and giving tax benefits to its selected crony capitalists and “green” generators. Energy for the most part is produced by private enterprise in the coal areas, natural gas development and distribution and by private companies generating electricity and importing what we need. This situation is unacceptable to the federal powers that have had little opportunity to inject their largess since it seems to be running fairly well. The left cannot stand that such a large area of the economy that affects every other sector is out of their manipulation.
I submit that the current energy policy is not being done through ignorance of the complete unfeasibility of renewable energy or in a deluded effort to save the planet from Carbon Dioxide. The energy policy currently being implemented is specifically intended to create an energy crisis. The shut down of the Yucca Mountain facility makes this obvious, since nuclear power cannot be a scapegoat for the religion of Global Warming. When the realities of the combination of all of these efforts being implemented are realized, virtually everything will increase in cost at a time that our economy can ill afford another hit. Of course government, always ready to deny responsibility, will blame the energy industry for gouging the public and senatorial investigative show trials will be aired ad nauseum preordained to reach the conclusion that only the government can run it properly. Of course the shortages that will soon follow will be blamed on foreign producers who no longer accept dollars in payment.
The truly frightening point of the preceding argument is the extent that the Obama et al intends to go to squash dissent. It is now apparent that the intent is not just to create rolling blackouts (see California), but to create a disaster in which thousands of people will freeze or bake to death while what little is left of the economy goes into shambles. The current bill’s mandates being implemented by bureaucratic mandate are estimated to shut down as much as 50% of our coal fired electrical power generation. With no nuclear power to replace, then the only viable alternative to maintain electrical generating capacity appears to be natural gas that is now being curtailed through specious arguments about the ecological dangers of hydraulic fracturing techniques. All of these energy sources are to be supplanted by “green alternatives”. (For all you “glue” heads that have gone organic, doubling wind and solar power will cover up to 1% of our electrical power generation). Of course the fracturing argument will delay bringing enough natural gas to market in time that unfortunately will not forestall the inevitable agenda or the photo opportunities of frozen “grandmas”. The policies currently being put in place are truly evil in that they appear to be purposely implemented to create an “energy crisis” and economic mayhem that will be overshadowed by the de facto murder of thousands without “power”. The pun is intended.
Thank you Billjack*
Submitted by cajun2 on Sun, 03/18/2012 - 12:11pm.
An excellent post. The media would have you believe that the rising costs of energy is simply due to evil oil companies. While, behind the curtain, the true intentions are being implemented.
People are so spoiled in their comfortable nanny state, they have no idea the chaos to come. Sad.