Obama Contradicts Administration on Drilling
Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by James Devere in American Politics
In the Obama Administration, actions and words live in two distinctly different worlds. At a time when news was breaking about some on the Presidents team delaying decisions on oil drilling, Barack Obama decided to speak with the press for the first time in months.
Obama’s comments included a discussion on how we needed to bridge the gap from our current energy economy to a new, yet to be discovered energy economy. Obama stated, “[G]iven our energy needs, in order to continue economic growth, produce jobs, make sure our businesses are competitive around the world, that we are going to need some of the old traditional energy sources as we are developing these new ones and ramping them up.”
How he can reconcile his comments Tuesday to his Administration’s actions is yet to be seen. Most likely, the press will not have the opportunity to question him on the White House’s actions to reduce natural resource leases on federal lands and the closing of coal mines.
We do know that energy policy has been addressed by the members Obama’s staff. We do not know, however, what they plan to do, outside of waiting for a new source of energy to replace fossil fuels . Some clues to the Administration’s energy policy are evident in the article below from BigGovernment.com.
Drillgate Internal Emails Show Obama Team Lying to Public
by Vince HaleyIf you’re the President of the United States or one of his political appointees and you’re ideologically opposed to new oil and natural gas development offshore, what do you do when the public registers its overwhelming support for new drilling in public opinion polls?
You dance, delay, and deceive. You speak melodious words about seeking the wisdom of the public in making these decisions and then ignore evidence of the public will when you get it, or worse, you hide it.
First came the dance. In August 2008, after soaring gas prices and a dramatic shift in public opinion caused President Bush, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and Republican presidential candidate John McCain to reverse their positions on offshore drilling, then-Senator Obama also changed. The Democratic presidential nominee reversed his own position and that of his party, saying he was open to offshore drilling as part of an overall energy plan. The Democratic Congress followed a month later by quietly dropping the 25-year Congressional ban on offshore drilling.
Then came the delay. In January 2009, President Obama inherited a draft five year offshore drilling plan prepared by the outgoing Bush administration. The plan was already receiving public comment as part of the elaborate rule making process followed by federal agencies. Ken Salazar, Obama’s new Secretary of Interior, determined the decision about new offshore drilling was so important that he ordered a six-month extension to the comment period.
Third comes the dishonesty.
In April of 2009, during a discussion about offshore exploration in San Francisco, Salazar said that President Obama directed him to “to make sure that we have an open and transparent government” and that “these are not decisions that are going to be made behind closed doors.” Salazar went on to say that President Obama wanted to make sure that DOI was “maximizing the opportunity for the public to give us guidance on what it is that they want to do.”
Yet, more than four months after the comment period ended, the Department of the Interior has failed to make any public announcement about the results, even though sources have told American Solutions for months the comments show a 2-1 advantage in support of offshore drilling.
It took American Solutions almost four months and the power of the Freedom of Information Act to finally uncover indirect confirmation that, out of over 530,000 comments submitted, pro-drilling comments outnumbered anti-drilling comments by a 2-1 margin.
In an email dated October 27, 2009, Liz Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service, informs other Interior officials that a preliminary tabulation of the results of the comment period had not yet gone to Secretary Salazar, adding “[s]o the Secretary can honestly say in response to any questions that he’s [SIC] has not yet seen the analysis of the comments – staff is still working on it. I did, however, confirm to him the 2-1 split that these guys [at American Solutions] are emphasizing.”
When a public employee is on record condoning purposeful deception of the American people, the taxpayer should no longer have to fund his or her job. Secretary Salazar should immediately fire Liz Birnbaum for purposefully deceiving him, and in turn, the American people. It’s not possible for the Secretary to honor pledges of openness, honestly, and transparency in government if his staff is going to deliberately undermine such pledges.
Click here to read the entire Drillgate article
What is clear is that regardless of the Administrations words, their actions show that they are not interested in solving our current energy crisis, a major contributor to our economic woes. Neither a new energy source, or a new economy based on that energy source are anywhere in the near future. Investment in a new sources of energy is a no brainer, reliance on new energy, at this point, is irreprehensible. The President seems willing to say one thing to the American public while risking our energy supply and undermining a large segment of our economy behind the scenes.
"or a new economy based on that '"
Think about that. We could turn this country around in short order. We have resources all over this country and its surrounding waters. Technology is making previously difficult recovery easier and cleaner. We could provide all of the energy we use, ending our dependence on those who want to kill us. Think about the jobs that would result from an effort to covert our OWN natural resources to the lifeblood of our society. There would be jobs in exploration, recovery, refining, transporting and distribution and the technology that continues to improve the way we do all of the above. High unemployment would give way to a bustling new economy…. one based on common sense.