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Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Get Real Obama: The SPR is Trapped off our Coasts



The real Strategic Petroleum Reserve is trapped off our coasts, less than 2 percent of which are currently available for energy exploration. As gas prices skyrocket, the Obama administration claims its hands are tied and there's no immediate relief for Americans. Yet behind closed doors, Obama is considering a political band-aid for his failed energy policies with a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
This is not strategic and would represent an abuse of the SPR for political gain, as was the case this past summer when Obama pointed blame at Libya for the limp economy and released 30 million barrels of oil from the SPR. Nor will a release from the SPR benefit Americans at the pump. What would a real strategy that benefits the country and hard-working Americans look like? If the president is serious about bringing down gas prices and setting a course for an affordable energy future, he will lead the effort to tear down government barriers to our vast, yet untapped natural resources here at home. Everything this administration does is designed to do the exact opposite. The Obama Administration has closed off federal lands in the West to oil shale development and harassed industries that are employing safe, proven fracturing technologies that are creating jobs. Fortunately, strong leaders representing Gulf Coast communities are pushing back on the administration's anti-energy agenda.

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Just yesterday, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) blasted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at a hearing, citing the Obama administration's abysmal record granting drilling permits for the Gulf of Mexico. The administration claims that the president's policies have opened new areas for drilling in the Gulf, but Senator Landrieu reminded Salazar that the biggest gulf in this administration's record is the one that exists between rhetoric and reality. Indeed, it seems that the president's strategy is to offer warm words to domestic oil and gas producers while regulators at the EPA and Department of Interior clinch their fists. As Senator Landrieu pointed out, the fact that a meager 2 percent of federal lands are currently available for exploration mitigates any claim that the administration has about a pro-energy plan. We have incredible resources here at home, as documented by IER's North American Energy Inventory. A real strategic solution to America's energy woes would be a flood of drilling permits for federally owned lands -- both onshore and offshore -- not a dribble of oil from the SPR. This post was written by Johnny Russell.


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Institute for Energy Research -- Bio and Archives

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.


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