Oil Galore

The administration has been quick to react to this crisis. The White House National Security Advisor, James Jones, has met with Brazilian officials. They discussed a loan of US taxpayer money of billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned Petrobas to finance exploration of the huge discovery in the Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro.

The US Export-Import Bank issued a letter to Petrobas in the amount of $2 billion.

Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has also been quick to react to this crisis. He has committed that he will approve the Keystone pipeline on the first day of his administration. The question is ‘what does he plan to do on the second day?’

His plan was explicitly detailed in a major policy speech on 23 August 2012 It will give states the power to determine whether drilling and mining should occur on federal lands within their borders as part of a larger effort to increase domestic oil, coal and natural gas production and achieve energy independence by 2020.

"This is not some pie-in-the-sky kind of thing," Romney said during a speech at an oilfield services company in Hobbs, NM. "This is a real, achievable objective."

Under current law, the federal government controls oil, coal and gas permits for federal lands. But Romney argued determination should be up to state officials, insisting individual states are in a better position to "develop, adopt and enforce regulations" on local basis than the federal government--which his campaign says has been unduly influenced by Washington politics.

Romney said that loosening regulations on the energy industry will benefit taxpayers by lowering gas costs and reducing the cost of consumer goods, which have increased as companies pay higher energy prices. He'll argue that allowing more federal drilling would not only bring money back into the nation's budget but would result in lower energy prices that could create jobs, lower the trade deficit and increase the nation's security.

"Three million jobs come back to this country by taking advantage of something we have right underneath our feet. That's oil, and gas, and coal. We're going to make it happen. We're going to create those jobs," Romney said on 23 August. "Let me tell you what else it does. It adds $500 billion to the size of our economy. That is more good wages. That's an opportunity for more Americans to have a bright and prosperous future."

The push is part of what Romney touted as an effort to achieve energy independence by 2020, a plan that also includes expanding offshore energy development along the coast of Virginia and North and South Carolina as well as approval of the Keystone energy pipeline linking Canada to the United States.

Romney's speech came amid criticism that he hasn't been specific enough about what exactly he would do as president. In a conference call ahead of the speech, a Romney aide acknowledged that some of the ideas the candidate detailed Thursday he's pitched previously on the campaign trail. But aides insisted the speech offered more details about how Romney's policies would work as part of a larger effort to improve the economy.

Romney also pressed the idea that government is standing in the way of the US achieving energy independence—an argument the presumptive Republican nominee has made in the past.

"The challenge in getting there is not about the resources we have. It's not about the technology we have. It's about the government we have," Oren Cass, Romney's domestic policy director, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday. "The real question is are we going to pursue the political reforms that will allow us to develop the resources to their fullest."

“Unleashing those resources… the beneficiaries of that are consumers and families and workers who will get the benefit of more jobs and more affordable energy,” Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser said.

Specifically, Romney called for:

-    States to have control over drilling on federal land within their borders.
-    Placing oversight on all onshore energy developments within the hands of the states.
-    Opening of new offshore areas, starting with blocks off the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas.
-    Approval of the Keystone pipeline.
-    Start a fast track approval process for various energy projects, including nuclear.
-    Limiting the ability of environmental groups and others to file lawsuits.

In his position paper he pointed out that this will result in the creation of 3 million new jobs, $1 trillion in government revenues, a stronger dollar and lower energy prices.

We have already seen that we have more oil inside our borders and off shore than all other proven reserves on earth combined. Official estimates are:

-    8 times more than Saudi Arabia
-    18 times more than Iraq
-    21 times more than Kuwait
-    22 times more than Iran
-    500 times more than Yemen.

Now that we have a plan the only thing we’re waiting for is November.   

(Kay Martin is a writer and a contributor to CityWatch. His years of travel and work included tours in Russia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, Hawaii, Latin America, and the Pacific.  His new book “Along for the Ride” will be out and available shortly. He can be contacted at [email protected].) –cw




CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 69
Pub: Aug 28, 2012