Natural Resources Committee fights back against Obama’s ‘Spin’

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Obama gave a speech yesterday to try and curb the growing anger and angst over the continually rising gas prices across the country. As always, Obama fails to present the truth when speaking and the Natural Resources Committee decided to ‘fact check’ him and actually share the real facts with Americans.  From the House Natural Resources Committee site:

Obama Administration Turns Spin Cycle up to High with Latest “Fact Sheet” on U.S. Energy Production

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 11, 2011 – The White House won’t let facts stand in the way when it comes to American energy production as they continue to piggyback on predecessors’ pro-energy policies. Yesterday, the White House turned their SPIN machine to HIGH in their second attempt in as many days (see White House blog) to deflect mounting public anger over high gasoline prices. Today, the Administration is spinning numbers on U.S. oil and natural gas production with a misleading “fact sheet” designed to make the public believe their lengthy history of anti-energy policies have actually spurred energy development.

SPIN: “U.S. oil and natural gas production has increased, while imports of foreign oil have decreased.”

RINSE:

• Since 2008, U.S. foreign oil imports have decreased by 2 million barrels per day—at the same time, U.S. consumption has decreased by 2 million barrels per day.
• Imports have decreased, not because of Obama Administration policies, but because demand decreased due to a struggling economy and high unemployment.
• Once again, any increase in onshore or offshore oil and gas development can be attributed to previous Administrations’ pro-energy policies. Canceling leases and slow-walking offshore permits, as the Obama Administration has done, does not increase American energy production.
• This is why EIA’s Short Term Energy Outlook shows total U.S. oil production DECREASING by nearly 250,000 barrels per day in 2012.

SPIN: “Total U.S. natural gas production in 2010 was 26.9 trillion cubic feet, a 5% increase from 2008 and the highest level in more than 30 years.”

RINSE:

• The vast majority of the 5% increase represents natural gas extracted from private land, where the Obama Administration has had less of an ability to impede production.
• The Obama Administration is actively trying to impose regulations that would decrease natural gas production. The Environmental Protection Agency has been aggressively trying to stop natural gas production though regulation of hydraulic fracturing – the currently state-regulated drilling technology necessary for U.S. natural gas production to increase.
• The Department of the Interior has also announced potential plansto impede natural gas production on federal lands through duplicative hydraulic fracturing regulations.

SPIN: “41 million acres of public lands are under lease for oil and gas development, of which 12 million acres are producing”

RINSE:

• This argument represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the process of oil and gas development on public lands.
• The process of developing a lease – from the sale to actual production – takes time. Approximately one-third of leases are waiting to complete environmental review and obtain permits to drill. The Obama Administration has slowed this process by adding new layers of regulations and hurdles.
• Total acres leased are not an accurate representation of potential energy development as all leases DO NOT contain economically recoverable amounts of oil and gas.
• From 2002-2007, 52% of all exploration wells drilled were dry and 8% of the development wells drilled were dry.

SPIN: “In 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held 29 oil and gas lease sales for public lands in the West, offering 1643 parcels covering 3.2 million acres.”

RINSE:

• 29 lease sales may seem high, until it’s compared to 2008 when there were 38 lease sales. Lease sales have DECREASED under the Obama Administration.
• The total onshore acreage leased under the Obama Administration in 2009 and 2010 are the lowest in over two decades, stretching back to at least 1984.

SPIN:“Since the Deepwater Horizon spill and the implementation of stronger safety standards, BOEMRE has approved 37 shallow water permits in the Gulf of Mexico.”

RINSE:

• As of February 2011, shallow-water permit issuance continues to lag behind the historical average of 7.1 permits per month.
• 37 permits issued since April 2010 represents an average of only 3.7per month.
• Only one deepwater permit has been issued – over four months after the moratorium was officially listed. The Administration is being held in contempt for slow-walking permits and is currently trying to appeal a Federal Judge’s rulingthat ordered them to act on stalled deepwater permits.

SPIN: “The Obama Administration is working to increase the responsible and safe production of oil and gas in the United States, and has offered a total of 38 million acres of OCS under active lease of which 6.5 million acres are producing.”

RINSE:

• The reason there is not production activity on 31.5 million acres is because the Obama Administration has stopped and is failing to issue permits to drill.
• This is blocking expanded American energy production in both the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

SPIN: “The Administration is working to increase certainty and reduce costly delays and litigation in the onshore oil and gas leasing process.”

RINSE:

• The Department of the Interior’s proposed “wild lands” policy to treat designated lands as de facto Wilderness Areas will lock-up land from energy development, decrease certainty and increase costly delays for energy developers.
• BLM has admitted to a 206 day average processing time for Applications for Permits to Drill (APD). However the actual time from when a company submits an APD to final approval is close to 2 years in some field offices.

It’s pretty clear Obama is ‘whitewashing’ the truth about his anti-oil and anti-natural resources policies to Americans.  Of course he doesn’t want your every day American to realize that his policies are in fact screwing all of us.  Obama’s policies are directly causing some of the pain we are seeing at the gas pumps.  While this may make enviro-whackos happy, it is hurting the very people Obama feigns to be ‘for’ the most – the poor and working class, nevermind the middle class.  With skyrocketing gas prices, come increased prices of everything from food to clothing to airfare.  Food and clothing need to be delivered.  The trucks that deliver these products need to use gas.  The increasing gas prices increase the cost of goods sold and therefore cause businesses to increase the prices of their products.  Airfare is a no brainer.  Anytime gas prices increase significantly, you can expect airfare to also increase which again increases the cost to businesses and consumers directly.

Does anyone actually believe that Obama is for the poor, working class and middle class anymore?  Since Obama has been in office, he continually puts policies into place that directly hurt the very people he claims to be trying to help.  People who are barely making ends meet are on the brink of absolute disaster with the Obama Administration.  While he may be satisfying the loon green crowd and the far left, he’s hurting the majority of Americans, specifically those who relied on him for ‘hope and change’.   He gave them hope but he has changed their lives and this country for the worse.  The only hope these people now have are the people in Congress who are willing to fight for what is right in this country and that includes for all Americans, not just the elitist few that have millions of dollars to spend on Obama’s campaigns.  Let’s just hope that the ‘hope and change’ crowd wakes up and smells the B.S. for 2012.

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