White House Energy Rhetoric: Too Little, Too Late
Americans are feeling the pinch from high gas prices even earlier than usual this year. The annual Washington tradition of pointing fingers and demanding new energy policies doesn't usually kick off until Memorial Day. However, tensions in the Middle East and rising demand from growing economies in China, India and Brazil have combined to send gas prices skyrocketing at a record-setting pace months in advance of the summer driving season.
February gas prices were up 25 cents compared to the beginning of the year, and some experts believe average prices could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April and $5.00 by the summer. If the 25-cent increase persists, it would cost the U.S. economy about $35 billion over the course of a year. An increase of $1 per gallon, economists warn, would cost American consumers and businesses an extra $20 million every day. Americans are already struggling under the burden of increased food costs, and high gas prices will further strain family budgets and jeopardize our fragile economy.
President Obama has wasted no time in adding the issue to his speeches and heroically calling on Congress to pass an "all-of-the-above" energy policy. In reality, House Republicans have been doggedly pursuing just such a policy only to be opposed at every turn by the president's administration and his allies in Congress.
The most infamous recent example is, of course, the president's blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would create 20,000 new American jobs and bring an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. refineries. This single project would do so much to break our reliance on unstable Middle Eastern sources of oil. Although multiple, exhaustive studies have found the pipeline to be environmentally safe, President Obama chose to prioritize winning the votes of the extreme left wing above the nation's energy needs.
The Obama administration has thwarted American energy production in many additional ways. The president's claim that domestic production has increased during his term is highly misleading. First of all, much of the increase is due to either private sector innovation or to policies implemented during the Bush administration. According to the non-partisan Institute for Energy Research, oil production on private and state lands increased by 14 percent during the last fiscal year, while production on federal lands dropped by 11 percent. Compared to the historical average, federal approval of both deep-water and shallow-water drilling permits is down. The approval process for offshore drilling now takes 92 days -- 31 more than the historical average. Thanks to such delays and outright drilling bans, only 23 percent of all drilling plans have received approval in 2012, compared to the average of 73.4 percent.
Just days after paying lip service to increasing domestic production, President Obama was back to calling for tax hikes on oil and gas producers. This is bad policy in the best of times but is especially indefensible during record gas price increases. Taxing the energy industry is a surefire way to discourage domestic production at a time when we need it most.
By contrast, House Republicans have passed numerous bipartisan bills that would lower energy costs and create jobs. Among the dozens of policies awaiting Senate consideration are bills to approve the Keystone pipeline, decrease delays in the production permitting process, and allow exploration and production in promising areas offshore and in the Rocky Mountain West.
Simply giving speeches about energy policy will do nothing. If the president is serious about lowering gas prices, he will embrace the bipartisan, commonsense energy plans that have already been approved by the House of Representatives.