MEMO FOR THE MOVEMENT

Obama Energy Non-Policy Hurting America

RE: With the Administration showing little indication it will allow drilling to resume in the Gulf of Mexico at any point in the near future, its lack of political will to drill is undermining our efforts for energy independence, which compromises our national security and jeopardizes our economic recovery.

Issue-in-Brief: Continued instability in the Middle East, combined with unprecedented foreign demand for oil and an uncertain economic recovery at home, has left the United States at the mercy of foreign dictators and markets – issues that would be alleviated if the Administration lifted its self-imposed energy freeze and let domestic producers get back to work, particularly in the Gulf. There is an obvious lack of leadership from the Obama Administration.

Demand for Oil is Skyrocketing

· Since President Obama assumed office gas prices have risen 87%!

(From $1.83 to $3.43 and even higher in some states!)

· Global demand for oil is rising, and the competition for foreign resources has intensified. By 2035, the United States, Japan, OECD Europe, China, and India are projected to need 25 percent more imported oil than in 2005, with China and India accounting for the major portion of that increase.

· Instead of reaping the economic and social benefits of developing our domestic resources, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), even despite the recent permit granted by the Department of Interior (DOI), remains closed for business. According to the Energy Information Agency, domestic offshore oil production will fall 13 percent in 2011, a loss of about 220,000 barrels/day, mainly due to the continued lack of permits for the GOM.

Energy Security and Economic Security are Related

· Oil at a hundred dollars a barrel and rising could throw the U.S. economy into reverse at a time when it has just started moving forward. Any gains made by business or working families will soon be reversed.

· Petroleum is used in virtually every sector of our economy, from computers to crayons and heart valves to hand lotion. Rising fuel prices hit Americans right in the wallet at a time when incomes are stretched and unemployment remains agonizingly high.

Middle East Unrest Highlights U.S. Reliance on Foreign Oil

· The United States today imports just over half of its oil and refined petroleum products, leaving it highly susceptible to foreign supply disruptions.

· Instability among Middle Eastern energy suppliers along the region’s energy transportation corridors places a potential chokehold on America. The Suez Canal and its oil pipeline alone carry some 4 million barrels of oil and petroleum products each day. Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa.

· Inaction in the GOM threatens to force the United States to import an extra 88 million barrels of oil each year by 2016, at a cost of $8 billion. These are funds that should be spent here at home, supporting the U.S. economy, not sent abroad.

America’s Oil and Gas Entrepreneurs Know How to Develop Energy Resources Safely

· Shallow water drilling has also been affected by the permitorium on drilling in the Gulf, but its safety record speaks for itself – only 15 barrels of oil have been spilled in over 11,000 shallow water wells drilled in the past 15 years. That means that jet skis spill more petroleum into bodies of water a year than shallow water rig operations. Additionally, most of the drilling and production in shallow waters in the U.S. outer continental shelf are not by the large oil and gas companies, but rather the small independent producers, one of which has already been driven to bankruptcy since the Obama Administration has issued their moratorium.

· Despite industry compliance with safety regulations, the Department of Interior still continues to ignore applications for permits to drill in the Gulf. As a result, Federal Judge Martin Feldman granted Ensco Offshore an injunction, ordering Secretary Salazar to act on five deepwater permits within thirty days. New, safer response plans and technologies to contain oil spills are in place but Obama Administration’s ‘energy’ agenda continues to kill jobs on the Gulf coast and around the country.

Impact on Jobs and Economy is Huge

· The energy industry supports more than 2 million direct jobs and more than 7 million indirect jobs.

· Between 1980 and 2008, the oil and gas industry paid $1 trillion in total income taxes and more than $178 billion to the government in rent, royalty and bonus payments from 1982 through 2009.

· The government itself projects that even by 2035, oil and natural gas still will account for 57 percent of U.S. energy consumption.

· Resuming work in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is critical to meeting that need. Independent experts have projected that the US GOM deepwater oil production will account for 30 percent of total US production and nearly 95 percent of offshore production by 2020.

· According to the Energy Information Administration, domestic oil production will fall 240,000 barrels/day through 2012, mainly due to the continued Gulf “energy freeze.”

The “energy freeze’s” impact most severely affects the Gulf and the energy companies,

but the economic pain is felt throughout our economy

· The freeze hits drilling equipment suppliers and family-owned businesses that support the oil and gas industry.

· Beyond the impact on the immediate drilling operations, the oil produced in the Gulf is processed in refineries in Louisiana, Texas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

· Since President Obama assumed office gas prices have risen 87%!

CONSERVATIVE ACTION PROJECT

Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring

Gary Bauer, President, American Values

William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

Brent Bozell, President, Media Research Center

Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council

Mario H. Lopez, President, Hispanic Leadership Fund

Cliff May, President, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Duane Parde, President, National Taxpayers Union

Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness

Herman Pirchner, President, American Foreign Policy Center

Marion Edwyn Harrison, Past President, Free Congress Foundation

Rev. Lou Sheldon, President, Traditional Values Coalition

Karen Kerrigan, President, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Dr. Herbert London, President, Hudson Institute

David N. Bossie, President, Citizens United

T. Kenneth Cribb, former Domestic Adviser to President Reagan

Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General

James C. Miller III, former Reagan Budget Director

Becky Norton Dunlop, former Assistant Secretary of Interior

Mathew D. Staver, Chairman, Liberty Council Action

J. Kenneth Blackwell, Chairman, Coalition for a Conservative Majority

James Martin, Chairman, 60 Plus Association

Suhail Khan, Chairman, Conservative Inclusion Coalition

Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

Susan Carleson, Chairman & CEO, American Civil Rights Union

Tom Winter, Editor-in-Chief, Human Events

Alfred Regnery, Publisher, American Spectator

Angelo M. Codevilla, Professor Emeritus, Boston University

Donna Hearne, Executive Director, Constitutional Coalition

Bill Pascoe, Executive Vice President, Citizens for the Republic

Andrea Lafferty, Executive Director, Traditional Values Coalition

(All Names for Identification purposes only)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE ENERGY ISSUE VISIT THESE WEBSITES:

https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/50417.html

https://www.congress.org/news/2011/03/03/anwr_debate_reopens

https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/02/barbour-obamas-policy-is-to-drive-up-energy-prices

https://blog.heritage.org/?p=53602

https://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/roadmap-americas-energy-future_552750.html

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/23/the-lefts-drive-toward-8-gas

https://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/11/opinion-president-barack-obamas-underpowered-energy-policy

https://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/564503/201102281901/iNowi-Can-We-Drill-In-Alaska-.htm

https://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-c-2011-03-02-251241.112112-Obamas-energy-policy-repeating-mistakes-of-Jimmy-Carter.html

https://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4885693

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbour-says-obama-administration-encour

https://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14088818

https://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-02-25/news/bs-ed-oil-obama-20110225_1_high-gas-prices-obama-administration-oil

https://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42136

https://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42153

https://frontpagemag.com/2010/12/29/5-gas-predicted-under-obama

https://www.americansolutions.com/energytax/2010/03/like-high-gas-prices-then-youll-love-obamas-energy-policy.php

https://globalwarminghoax.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/obama-i-was-for-high-gas-prices-before-i-was-against-them