Americans are seriously worried over the rising number of their fellow citizens without jobs.
Americans watch the daily cost of a gallon of gasoline as closely as sports scores.
America has so much untapped oil that it boggles the imagination. Much of it is located offshore of the nation’s coastline.
Some states benefit greatly from the oil and natural gas extracted from the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas receive revenues collected by the federal government for offshore production and of course there are lots of jobs involved.
July marked a year since the lifting of an 18-year-old presidential moratorium (ban) on offshore exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas, but a de facto ban continues for states from Maine to Florida, Washington to California. In Alaska, a federal ban on extracting oil in ANWR makes a joke out of politicians who call for “energy independence.”
Nine out of ten wells in America’s interior are produced by small, independent producers, not the so-called Big Oil companies. They increase the nation’s energy security and expand domestic energy production. They reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.
The Southeast Energy Alliance recently noted that just one state, North Carolina, could receive up to $577 million annually in revenue sharing payments from offshore energy development if Congress extended its royalty revenue sharing program in the same way it does for Gulf States.
Now multiply that revenue by all the other coastal states that will not permit exploration and extraction. Those same states mercilessly raise taxes on their citizens to meet their budget shortfalls.
In North Carolina alone, offshore continental shelf exploration and extraction would generate more than 6,700 jobs, increase the state’s gross domestic product by $659 million annually by 2030, and generate approximately $148 billion in federal, state, and local revenues.
A Monmouth University poll in June revealed that a clear majority of Americans in five coastal states support offshore domestic energy exploration and production. The states polled were that New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Now, while all that oil and natural gas goes untapped and essentially banned from use, Congress is considering a “Cap-and-Trade” act that would increase the cost of all energy, raising the cost to all Americans in the name of limiting “greenhouse gas emissions” said to be causing “global warming.” This especially hits the coal industry, responsible for 50% of all the electricity generated nationwide.
Only there is NO global warming. Thousands of previous records regarding cooler weather are being broken throughout the United States (and worldwide) because the Earth has been cooling for a decade and is predicted to continue cooling for decades.
The “Stimulus” bill passed by Congress allocates billions to “green energy” in the form of wind and solar production which represents just over 1% of the electricity Americans require daily. It is more expensive and less reliable than any other form of energy.
The total disconnect between what Congress says and what it does marks its failure to support the generation of more jobs, more revenue, and greater energy security for the nation.
The answer to America’s energy needs, however, is obvious. Rid Congress of those members who will not permit thousands of energy-related jobs, nor allow Americans access to the energy they require to run their businesses, heat or cool their homes, or operate cars, trucks, trains and planes.
Find out if your Representative in the House voted for “Cap-and-Trade” and vote them out! Tell your Senators today that they are next to go if they vote for it.
Then demand that exploration and drilling in America’s offshore continental shelf and in ANWR must be permitted. Tell the lying Greens wailing about “dirty” coal to take a hike.
It’s not complicated. It’s common sense and it’s about the survival of the nation.
