By now, you know about the Keystone Pipeline, a project Obama just succeeded in shutting down, in spite of the fact that it had been approved by all six governors whose lands are affected and the wacko's at the Environmental Protection Agency (they are wacko's you know) twice. Obama failed this project for the sole purpose of tricking his environmental "friends" into voting for him. rumor has it that he will approve the project sometime after the fall elections. Over the course of the next 10 year period, as many as a 100,000 jobs are effected, including construction jobs, materials transportation, inventory, and the many business along the pipeline's corridor. What you may not know is this: the most recent IHS Global Insight and IHS CERA Report, tells us that 230,000 jobs might be created in 2012, alone, with increased domestic oil production. The report reads (in part):
Swift action to reduce the growing backlog of plans and increase the pace of plan and permit approvals to explore for oil and natural gas resources in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico would increase employment opportunities in almost every state, boost tax and royalty revenues for governments, and help stabilize US energy security. And these benefits could materialize rapidly. Early alignment between the capacity to properly regulate oil and natural gas activities and the pace and scale of investment opportunities would capture the largest possible share of the activity gap, which in 2012 results in
• 230,000 American jobs
• more than $44 billion of US gross domestic product (GDP)
• nearly $12 billion in tax and royalty revenues to state and federal treasuries
• US oil production of more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day (bd) (equivalent to approximately 150 million barrels in the full year)
• reducing the amount the United States sends to foreign governments for imported oil by around $15 billion
The employment effects would not be limited to the Gulf states. One-third of those jobs would be generated outside the Gulf region in such states as California, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
While Obama claims "increased oil production," pretending that he is a closet "big oil" man, the fact of the matter is this: he has sharply curtailed domestic production on the federal lands he controls. In Utah, alone, he has canceled 70 exploratory permits. His energy policies have, likewise, devastated the coal industry. Obama can claim an increase in oil production only because of permits on state and private lands, permits approved under the Bush Administration but, just now going into production. In the Gulf, 51 permits have been approved during a time when 159 should have been the count (all under Obama).
And, specifically dealing with the price of fuel at the pump, Obama pundits tell us, repeatedly, that supply is not the problem causing higher prices at the pump. Increasing prices are solely the responsibility [the blame] of the "futures" traders on Wall Street, We are told that oil production is at its highest levels in years.
With that in mind, I have this question: why in the world is Obama talking about opening up the national oil reserve, if supply is not the problem?
One thing for certain, we are not getting the truth out of this Administration. The fact that their lips are moving, is evidence of that. You Democrats must be so proud.