(Illustration by ShelTOONS@aol.com)U.S. crude oil production has fallen 40 percent from its levels of 25 years ago. With gas at $4+ a gallon and a barrel of oil hovering between $130 and $140, we import two-thirds of our oil from the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. As a result, we send hundreds of billions of our dollars (that is real money, even for tax & spend liberals) to these pillars of stability who, of course, have nothing but the well-being of the United States at heart
And yet we hobble ourselves by prohibiting even the exploring of huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are conservative estimates of 75 billion barrels of oil that have been declared off-limits. That would be enough to replace every barrel of non-North American imports (the oil we get from Canada and Mexico are a net economic and national security plus) for 22 years! That is nearly a quarter-century of energy independence!
This situation is ridiculous and it continues to be caused by the environmental-whackos who control the economic idiots (liberal-leftist Democrats) - the inmates currently in control of the asylum known as the U.S. Congress.
Even an old curmudgeon like John McCain can see the need for change in the face of reality. (Change! Now where have I heard that before?) Lifting the federal ban on Outer Continental Shelf drilling that was imposed in 1982 is a change for John McCain, albeit only half as much as needed. But circumstances have changed. Since the moratorium was instituted, we have had two wars in the Middle East, and during lulls between wars, garrisoned thousands of troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE to preserve the peace and keep untold riches out of the hands of the most malevolent of our enemies.
Technology has changed as well. We are now able to drill with far more precision and environmental care than a quarter-century ago and cause much less harm than is perpetrated in the halls of Congress whenever they are in session. With thousands of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, not even hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in oil spills.
McCain's policy on offshore drilling is a welcome change from past positions, however, his unwillingness to include ANWR makes absolutely no political sense. If you are going to take the hit for flip-flopping and for offending environmentalists, why go halfway? With 67 percent of the American public (you know, the ones that are paying $4+ for gasoline) are in favor of drilling in ANWR, off-shore, in their back yards . . . what is the problem here?
Right on cue, Barack Hussein Obama , as expected, reflexively attacked McCain. "His decision to completely change his position" to one that would please the oil industry is "the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades." One can only marvel at Obama's audacity in characterizing McCain's proposal to change our policy as "old politics," while the candidate of "change" adheres rigidly to the no-drilling status quo. (I guess Barack Hussein Obama's "...decision to completely change his position" on accepting public financing (thus leveling the playing field) for his campaign as he promised, really does not count.)
Why is the United States the only country in the world who denies their own citizens the resources of their own country? This is the question that needs to be asked of every Congress-critter!
