First, we begin by restricting the development of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Then, we stop all drilling in Alaska by shutting down the Alaskan pipeline.
Next, we keep Canada from building a new pipeline to the U.S. Gulf coast where there are refineries that can handle Canadian crude, while also temporarily shutting down its Keystone pipeline.
Then we prevent the use of fracking.
Sound preposterous? Not really. It’s already happening.
By now, everyone should be aware of how this administration brought drilling to a standstill in the Gulf of Mexico, and how the issuing of new permits is proceeding at a snail’s pace. According to the Wall Street Journal, the slowdown is expected to result in a 20% decline in production from the Gulf by 2012.
The situation with the Alaskan pipeline may not be as well known.
By law, the pipeline must be dismantled if it is shutdown, and it will be shut down if new oil production doesn’t occur in Alaska.
At one point the pipeline carried over 2 million barrels of oil per day, now it is down to around 600,000. When operating at near capacity, the oil flowed rapidly at 100 degrees F, while now it literally crawls along, taking five times longer to reach Valdez and flowing at around 40 degrees F. The slow, sticky cold movement of oil can clog the pipeline and increase the threat of corrosion.
The obvious answer to the problem is to increase drilling in Alaska to increase the amount of oil carried by the pipeline, but this administration and environmentalists are preventing new drilling.
It’s only a matter of time before there will no longer be any oil coming from Alaska.
The administration also temporarily shut down the Keystone pipeline from Canada. The pretext? There were a few small oil spills, one of 400 barrels, another of 10 barrels. The administration is demanding that the entire pipeline be subjected to extensive metallurgical testing to identify any possible weaknesses.
In addition, the administration is using the spills at the Keystone pipeline to withhold issuing permits for a new 1.1 million barrel per day pipeline to carry Canadian oil to the Gulf.
One of the reasons environmentalists are fighting to stop oil from Canada is because it comes from oil-sands and produces more CO2 emissions than oil from regular drilling.
In opposition to the pipeline the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) states, “The Keystone XL Pipeline Undermines the United States Commitment to a Clean Energy Economy. To meet an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050…”
However, if it wasn’t for that reason, it would be for some other reason – anything to force the U.S. from using fossil fuels, no matter how much it hurts Americans.
Finally, we come to fracking, the technology that has made natural gas abundant and cheap and expanded our domestic supply of oil. The EPA is studying fracking again, with environmentalists doing all they can to stop fracking.
All of these comments can be corroborated, just be alert when reading the newspaper or Google the subjects.
With a little more effort, the environmentalists will have their way and we will have shortages of energy and more lost jobs.
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Additional TSAugust web sites:
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