President Obama and his liberal allies in Congress have no solutions to America’s energy crisis. Gas prices are out of control and hurting the pockets of hard-working Americans. In California, gas prices are over $5 in some areas; in Florida, some people are paying nearly $6 a gallon! America needs energy solutions now or the situation will only get worse.
Rick McKee / Augusta Chronicle (click to view more cartoons by McKee)
Back in 2008 Citizens United Productions produced “We Have The Power,” hosted by Newt and Callista Gingrich. We dive into a myriad of energy solutions to help inform Americans about the possibilities that we have right here at home. We need to explore the vast amount of oil and gas in the Outer Continental Shelf, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as our other vital energy resources including hydroelectric power, wind power, oil shale, natural gas, gas hydrates, hydrogen, biofuels, solar power, clean coal and nuclear power.
“We Have The Power” highlights America’s need to readopt our World War II mentality of “Do it all, do it now” by tapping into all of our abundant energy resources. However, “Do it all, do it now” does not mean handing out pork projects and subsidies to favored liberal constituencies through a $38.6 billion green jobs loan program. “Do it all” does not include Chicago-style, pay-to-play schemes using taxpayer funds to reward campaign contributors – like George Kaiser, the largest shareholder of the now-bankrupt Solyndra. Nor does it mean the government picking our energy winners and losers instead of the free market, where bad ideas can fail without leaving taxpayers on the hook.
“Do it all, do it now” does mean unleashing our country’s energy industry, whether by approving the Keystone pipeline, allowing drilling off the coasts of Florida, Virginia and the eastern Gulf, or giving green energy startups the flexibility come up with their own solutions and compete without being bogged down by rigid, one-size-fits-all federal loan requirements.
To lower our energy prices, we must look at ALL the energy resources available in America today and those we can develop for tomorrow. Instead, President Obama gives us the job-killing Cap and Trade bill, tells us to check the tire pressure on our cars, and sings the praises of algae.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has said there are “no magic solutions” and Obama says there is no “silver bullet.” The Obama Administration is making a big show of claiming that the energy situation is far too complicated to fix. The fact is this is how an administration too cozy with the radical environmental lobby behaves.
Before he was president, Obama said under his plan energy prices would “necessarily skyrocket.” Similarly, in 2008 Energy Secretary Steven Chu advocated for gas prices as high as in Europe. The Obama Administration is licking its chops at the pain being inflicted on Americans at the pump because they hope it will force Americans to change their lifestyles and drive energy consumption down. Their only regret is that this is happening during an election year.
America’s ready to stop playing games with our energy and start taking action. As Americans, we have the power. The time to act is now.
