Congress Does Not Care About America’s Energy Needs

The House voted this week to keep a 25 year moratorium on off shore drilling in place. Rather than division along party lines the division was between coastal states and non-coastal states. Those with a coastline did not want drilling rigs claiming that it would hurt tourism, as if gas prices have no effect on the tourism industry. Those from non-coastal states do not have the same concerns and wanted drilling to resume. This fight shows once again that Congress does not really care about the energy problems in this country.

I have no problem paying $3.00 for a gallon of gas. I still think it is a great deal though, like any one else, I would like to pay less. I understand supply and demand and realize that I am not being gouged by oil companies and that the only gouging going on is by the people who add burdensome taxes to the cost of gas. The members of Congress do not have a grasp on supply and demand and instead blame oil companies for “gouging” us at the pumps. It is hard to believe that these so called intelligent people can not understand the truth. I really believe they are in Congress because they are not competent enough to get a job anywhere else.

We need to find alternative energies, that is a given but they will not pop up overnight. The fact is oil is our primary means and we need it to fuel (pardon me) our economy. We have places that we own where we could get oil. ANWR is a barren piece of land that is home to a few animals. It has oil under it and we could be drilling for it there but the environmentalists fight that every time it is mentioned. There will be an ANWR bill introduced (supposedly next week) and it will be interesting to hear debate on it.

Mexico just hit paydirt in the Gulf and now has a huge new source of oil. All the while, America sits on the same fields as 25 years ago and refuses to expand drilling in order to obtain more oil and then blames oil companies for the cost of gas. The fact is OPEC can manipulate the cost of oil and China now has a renewed thirst for the black gold. Without increasing our offshore drilling we are sure to pay even more in the future to meet our oil needs. You can bet that members of Congress will drive to gas stations in their inefficient vehicles (and leave them running while speaking) to tell us how bad it is and to blame the President and everyone else. The fact is, oil companies and the President are not responsible for the problem but Congress is responsible for the lack of a solution.

435 members of The House are up for reelection this year. If you want to vote your party do so by voting for whomever is running against the incumbent in the primary. Then you can vote for that person for office in November. We need to turn the entire House over this year and put fresh faces in there. Maybe then we will have people who know what they are doing and will be dedicated to work rather than special interests. The first four line of a song by Elvis Presley seem to sum up what most Americans think about Congress:

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark

If we could just get them to shut up and do some real work, we might actually be better off.
Source: Associated Press

[tags]Congress, Elvis, ANWR, oil companies, offshore drilling, special interests[/tags]

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One Response to “Congress Does Not Care About America’s Energy Needs”

  1. Bosun says:

    We have some major energy issues on the horizon. Castro has contracted with China to start exploring and drilling 75 miles from the Keys. ( China, Cuba reported in Gulf oil partnership )Chavez is getting involved ( with the process and with Iran ). Chavez has already nationalized some of the oil company leases previously held by foreign companies. ( Chavez was making more deals in Vienna last week ) Morales just nationalized natural gas. So, you have the “axis of good” as the socialist dicators like to call themselves and China kissing up to them. (China is very energy hungry and not really our friend) And, then you factor Iran into the equation. What you have is the makings of a perfect storm. Yep, we got a lot to be concerned about. And, our legislators have not allowed us to drill new wells off our own coast for 30 years (or build new nuke reactors) for new energy sources.

    How we going to like gas at $10.00 a gallon in the not so distant future?