Issue #8...Energy Independence: Drill Here, Drill Now

Rising gas prices are in the news this week. So, take a look at Issue #8 in the "Issues in Detail."

This week, we have a new reason to join forces to oppose the liberal idea of "going green."

Issue #8…Energy Independence: Drill here, drill now.

Two separate ingredients came together to create the recent economic downturn. The first ingredient was intervention of liberals in Congress and by a past president to force lending institutions to lend mortgage money to people who would not normally qualify. These forced loans are another example of lunatic liberal ideas that do far more damage than good because when millions of people could no longer pay the mortgages and when banks overloaded in these debts began to go bankrupt, the economy took a nosedive with the stock exchange falling from near 12,000 to below the 8000 level. The ripple effect was enormous. Rather than using the proven conservative remedy of tax cuts, liberals proposed more and more lunatic spending. For the first time in our history, liberals have spent almost two trillion dollars they do not have—creating another future catastrophe.

 The second ingredient was the refusal of liberals in Congress to allow drilling in Alaska and off the shores of the east and west coasts. So, the price of a barrel of oil began to rise above the $100 level, finally reaching the $150 level. As a result, the price of a gallon of gasoline went from under two dollars a gallon to almost five dollars a gallon. This resulted in citizens holding onto their money, not spending on extras, and spending much more of their disposable income on gasoline. The end result was a spiraling fall in the economy. Was this a natural phenomenon? No. It was the result of lunatic liberal policy that forbids drilling.  The United States has enough resources to be energy independent.

            While allowing private enterprise (not government boondoggles) to develop alternative sources of energy, we the people propose that Congress immediately allow drilling for oil along the coasts and in Alaska, along with the building of new refineries.  If we can send men to the moon in ten years, then our goal is for America to become energy independent within ten years. If they refuse, then we the people will vote the lying, lunatic liberals out until America becomes energy independent.

            The real statistics about our natural reserves are staggering. We have no idea how much oil lies off the west and east coasts. Yet, our oil, coal, and natural gas reserves could last hundreds of years--the truth is we do not know how much resources we have. 

There is nothing wrong with developing alternative energy sources, but let private enterprise pay. Government could offer a tax free 10 million dollar reward plus royalties for anyone who can develop an energy source cheaper and better than gas, oil, or coal. The secret to success is allowing the free market place and competition to regulate supply and demand.

            While the government wastes billions of tax dollars on developing a total electric car, the car companies have cars that run on natural gas—but they are only sold overseas. Why not here? Natural gas is a real solution that is inexpensive to implement. Why does not government push that solution? It is basically because of the global warming hoax. Liberals have declared war on the oil industry. They will accept no solution that has oil, gas, or coal. 

However, a more sinister reason that liberals push global warming is control. Government has revealed that they want America to be like the rest of the third world—so poor that we cannot resist their control. Many liberals in Washington have said that they would welcome five to ten dollar per gallon gas. At that point, just driving to work would take a huge part of our incomes. Such a radical rise in gasoline would cause inflation to skyrocket, making food prices and every product connected to gasoline rise to astronomical levels.

            Is the electric car really the answer? The technology does not exist yet to make this practical. Being raised on the farm has given me some insights into the practicality of the electric car. There is an issue that the news media has never addressed--or deliberately ignored. That question is this: How many batteries does it take to run an electric car? How long is the battery life--two years--five years? How much do these batteries cost? I have never heard one news report on that. If these batteries are like most batteries, their lifetime is usually not more than five years. I am only guessing, but I imagine it will cost anywhere from two to five thousand dollars just to replace the batteries--if these are "special-made" batteries, then the cost could be higher. Now, who is going to spend that much money every few years just to keep their electric car going? 

In fact, a whole host of problems face the battery life in an electric car--such as cold weather. Yet, not one liberal media outlet has talked about how easy it would be to convert most of our cars to natural gas. This whole issue is a liberal shell game--another ponzi scheme.

There are a whole host of simple solutions that make sense. Recent fields of discovered oil and natural gas need to be developed--like those in Alaska. But, even more recent finds are in North Dakota and Louisiana. Also, the president could allow thousands of permit to wells in the gulf that were shut down during the moratorium. Just the other day, as gasoline prices topped $3.30 across America, the president allowed one--that's right--and only one permit to be issued. He should be allowing a thousand permits a week for drilling, exploration, and development, until the gas prices return to a $2.00 level. But that is exactly what liberals don't want.

Another easy solution is to encourage a new generation of nuclear energy plants to be built. Instead, we are waiting for the wind to start turning thousands of wind chargers. The liberal media never ask the obvious question: which is cheaper to produce--electricity from chargers or electricity from nuclear plants? What liberals don't want you to know is that coal is the cheapest form of energy. Therefore, the only realistic place to put a million wind chargers is in Washington D.C. because the liberal hot air blows there 24/7.

The sad truth is that liberals in Washington do not want a solution--they want red tape and control. Yet, we the people are the real solution and we have enough numbers to march on Washington D.C. and cry, “Drill, baby, drill!” If they ignore us, we can and should go the polls and vote the lying, lunatic, liberal bums out—this time, next time, and every election following. Remember when gas was $1.00 a gallon? I remember when it exploded from around 30 cents to over a dollar under Carter. I was mad then and still haven't gotten over it! Looks like a greater than Carter has arrived.

We the people cannot forget our best solution!