PATHWAY TO HELL
   
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2009-07-13

In their most recent display of arrogance, Congress and the president once again ignored the will of the people and now will cram cap-and-trade legislation down the throat of every American – a bill that ignores the obvious, focuses on fantasy and will be a disaster for future generations.

Chairman Obama worked the phones feverishly and authorized Pelosi to give away billions to get this bill passed. Over and over again, Chairman Obama emphasized how absolutely critical energy independence, which this bill allegedly will provide, would be to the future of the nation. So much so, one wonders how we have survived so many years being dependent on foreign sources for our energy.

Given that I am a big believer in good intentions, I will give Chairman Obama the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word. I know there is an inherent risk in doing so, but in the spirit of bipartisanship it is worth a try.

If the real intent of this bill is to break our "addiction" to foreign oil, why was there a huge piece missing in this bill that would afford us freedom from would-be bad guys overnight?

Domestic sources of energy including nuclear.

Any person or business with half a brain would employ resources they own to avoid the use of another's. America is rich with vast deposits of oil and natural gas trapped within the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS, off the coast of California and Florida. In the Gulf of Mexico, new deposits are being explored and harvested by other countries. What about the wealth in the ANWR or the north slope in the Prudhoe Bay areas of Alaska?

Recently the United States Geological Survey, or USGS, has revised the original estimates it made in 1995 about the Bakken Formation in the areas of Montana and North Dakota. It now estimates between 3 and 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil which is a 25-fold increase from the original estimate of a measly 151 million barrels.

It has been well established that there are now trillions, if not quadrillions, of cubic feet of natural gas all over this great country – from Texas to the Northeast, from the slopes of Alaska to the deep waters of the Gulf. There's enough natural gas to heat our homes, fuel our cars and power natural gas-fired electric power plants for decades, if not longer.

Pursuing the OCS, ANWR, Prudhoe Bay, Gulf of Mexico and the Bakken alone would not only eliminate the need for Middle Eastern oil but create hundreds of thousands of high-paying American jobs in the process – jobs desperately needed, given the loss of 6 million in the recent recession.

This would also provide some breathing room while America develops alternative sources such as solar, wind, geo-thermal, clean coal, natural gas and all the other technologies that hold so much promise for our future needs.

As technology increases and economies of scale reduce costs, we can develop for future generations electric vehicles, fuel cells, hybrid motors, etc., that will provide safe, sustainable and clean fuels for centuries to come.

Why not immediately fast track legislation to build nuclear power plants throughout the country to provide one of the cleanest forms of energy ever harnessed by man? Between engineers, construction workers and operational employees we would birth tens of thousands of high-paying sustainable jobs. The options we have right here at home are limitless. And to develop them will create vast domestic employment that cannot be shipped to Bombay or Mexico City.

So with all these abundant domestic resources and the prospect of thousands, if not millions, of new jobs they would create, why did these opportunities receive little to no mention in this bill?

I want to believe in the good intentions of Chairman Obama and Commandant Pelosi, but it is getting more difficult by the hour. Every American has been urged to give the president a chance, and I agree. But when the obvious is in front of him, and he ignores both the obvious and the will of the people. When do the chances run out?

Pierre DuPont, addressing the French National Assembly on Sept. 25, 1790, provided a unique insight into the intentions of men: "Gentlemen, it is a disagreeable custom to which one is too easily led by harshness of the discussions to assume evil intentions. It is necessary to be gracious as to intentions; one should believe them good, and apparently they are; but we do not have to be gracious at all to inconsistent logic or to absurd reasoning. Bad logicians have committed more involuntary crimes than bad men have done intentionally."

So draw your own conclusions as to the nature of the legislative intentions coming from Washington under our current leadership.

America has the resources, manpower and technology to harvest enough domestic energy to last us for decades to come. We maintain the largest capital markets that are perfectly capable of breeding the free market solutions necessary to address the challenges we face. But only if allowed to do so. Is there any doubt America with all her greatness would be energy independent if our leaders desired her to be?

You know the answer. Apparently our conclusion is vastly different from that of Chairman Obama and Pelosi. They believe in government; I believe in people. They want control; I want freedom. They cater to radical trust baby environmentalists; unemployed auto workers want a job to pay the mortgage.

This issue of energy independence is not rocket science. Energy policy should include every asset we have at our disposal. To do anything less would make us bad stewards of what God has given man. Mr. Obama should be reminded that he is a steward of the people's resources – not the owner.

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