offshore drilling

 This Reuters article that I read Wednesday indicates, "Obama has said he would be open to expanding offshore drilling areas as part of a comprehensive legislation to address America's energy problems." 

I agree with Republican lawmakers that it is essential to encourage President Obama to OK the offshore drilling plan. 

The moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration in the outer continental shelf that expired on September 30, 2008 was put into place during a very different time in our nation’s history.  Let’s not turn back the clock by imposing another ban.

Oil and natural gas exploration in the outer continental shelf will create additional U.S. jobs. Individuals who worked in this industry had wages in 2006 that were more than double the national average.

Production of oil and natural gas has brought billions of dollars in revenue to state and federal governments and represents a significant revenue source to the federal government.

For those of you who feel strongly about this issue you can find more information about offshore oil and natural gas exploration at the North Carolina Energy Forum website (http://www.ncenergyforum.com). The North Carolina Energy Forum is a community of concerned citizens who are committed to achieving energy security for our country. You can also join the NC Energy Forum.

ARRA News Service -As often happens on Fridays, Charles Krauthammer has a devastating column. He skewers Democrats in Congress for their staunch opposition to producing more oil and for their weak arguments against doing so. Krauthammer writes:

“By an overwhelming margin of 2 to 1, Americans want to lift the moratorium preventing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, thus unlocking vast energy resources shut down for the past 27 years. Democrats have been adamantly opposed. They say that we cannot drill our way out of the oil crisis. Of course not. But it is equally obvious that we cannot solar or wind or biomass our way out. Does this mean that because any one measure cannot solve a problem, it needs to be rejected? . . . The consensus in the country, logically unassailable and politically unbeatable, is to do everything possible to both increase supply and reduce demand, because we have a problem that’s been killing our economy and threatening our national security. And no one measure is sufficient.” . . .

The problem for the Democrats is that the argument for ‘do everything’ is not rocket science. It is common sense. Which is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, surveying the political rubble resulting from her insistence on not even permitting drilling to come to a floor vote, has quietly told her members that they can save their skins and vote for drilling when the pre-election Congress convenes next month. Pelosi says she wants to save the planet. Apparently saving her speakership comes first.” . . . [Read Charles Krauthammer's No Will To Drill]

A report about the activity happening on the floor of the House. - Jon Henke

For an hour and a half this morning, I was on the House floor watching the Guerrilla Congress in action. Unfortunately, I have no photos to show for it, as Blackberries, iPhones, and cellphones were all banned from the chamber. The representatives I heard speak this morning (sadly, ol' Marsha Blackburn was not among them, though I did see her there): Adam Putnam (Fla.), Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Frank Wolf (Va.), Christopher Shays (Conn.), Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Judy Biggert (Ill.), and Rob Bishop (Ut.). I think the theme of what everyone spoke on can best be summed up by what Rep. Putnam reiterated twice: "When the next generation looks at the Middle East on the map, they should be able to say, 'What an interesting place,' not, 'We depend on them for our economic security.'" A lot more under the jump.

Worth going if you are in DC. -Patrick

MoveOn.org Counter-Rally!
 
MoveOn.org is planning a rally at the Capitol at 4:00 PM to steal media from the ongoing Republican "Guerilla Congress".
 
While the GOP is demanding a vote on offshore drilling, Democrats and MoveOn.org are frantically wave their arms trying to change the subject...
 
WE CAN'T LET THEM!
RALLY WITH US AT 5:00 PM!
 
Details
 
When: 4:45 PM
Where: Grant Memorial on the Mall, 1st Street between Penn Ave and Maryland Ave.
Why: To show America there is more support for drilling more oil
 
More Info: Call (202) 608-1411 or (720) 839-0130

The return of the Guerilla Congress today was a huge encouragement and it is really exciting to see what the House GOP can do when it sets its mind to it. The Dontgo movement is growing minute-by-minute and people want Congress to return to work and pass the American Energy Act.

Everybody is taking leadership in his or her own way. We've got Danny Glover and Jason Carini working on media distribution channels, Media Lizzy and Jenn Sierra promoting the events on internet talk radio, Robert Bluey and Reps. Culbertson and Wittman twittering from the floor, and Eric Odom setting up websites for the Dontgo movement. People are offering to drive visitors to the Hill, collecting money to buy food for Members, and creating promotional flyers, all on their own.

This is possible because a large group of people have been inspired by the Guerilla Congress and it touches on themes that all of us recognize. This event, at least for me, reminds me of why I became a Republican in the first place. Transparency, smart usage of modern technology, principled free market policies, and the thrill of fighting the establishment is what the Republican Revolution was all about.

Over the past two days, many people have worked to build an alternative to the MSM to get media from the floor out to the general public. However, as the phantom sessions gain more attention, it will become harder and harder to smuggle media out of the House chamber. What we need to focus on now as a movement is how to bring the American people into their House.

We can pump tweets out continuously and get some precious video or audio out from time to time to maintain page A13 attention, but we need crowds of energized Americans clamoring for change in the Capitol to take things to the next level. Right now, the MSM is dismissing the Guerilla Congress as a GOP stunt, but that will be much harder to do if there are long lines of excited and angry people waiting to get into the chamber specifically to take part in the phantom sessions. I know from experience that constituents are usually bored and disappointed when visiting the House gallery - if they are engaged and excited, that is a news story in itself.

We can make this happen. During the summer, a flood of people drive to Washington for vacation and take exhausted kids around the Mall in the humidity and heat, trying to show them the monuments and teach them about American democracy. They have just driven hundreds of miles and spent large amounts of money on gas - more than most other Americans would. They are almost the ideal target audience for the shadow sessions, and they have every right to be mad that the Dems skipped town for a vacation of their own when their vacations are cut short or made less enjoyable because of the price of gas.

If we build on this foundation, and add in the opportunity to spend time inside with the AC and let their kids go on the House floor while it is in a pseudo-session to interact with 20-30 members, we can probably draw people in. What we need to figure out is how to frame it, publicize it to tourists and do it right. It's an opportunity we can't afford to pass up.

Promoted. -Patrick

On Sunday, over thirty Republican Members announced that they would return to the House of Representatives to continue the Guerilla Congress's phantom sessions. Members will continue to discuss the need for an 'all of the above' energy plan with visitors, and keep the pressure on the Democrats to reconvene the House and allow a vote on offshore drilling.

The session is expected to begin around 10 AM Eastern. Twitter users on the #dontgo feed and members of the Facebook group, 'Rock the House! I Support the Guerilla Congress' have organized to capture video, audio and images from the event and distribute it throughout the web and to the MSM.

Those who are stepping up to get footage from the event are coordinating on #rth, and Eyeblast.tv has offered to promote any media uploaded to the website. If you plan to report from the event, be sure to stick to #rth and upload to Eyeblast.tv. From there, we will need the conservative netroots to alert the media about the Eyeblast content and promote it as much as possible.

Be sure to follow http://dontgo.us and Rock the House for continuing developments tomorrow.

On Friday, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to adjourn after Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked Republican efforts to include a provision for expanded domestic drilling in energy legislation. All 199 Republicans voted against adjournment while enough Democrats voted for adjournment for the motion to pass by one vote.

In response to Democratic refusals to create a truly comprehensive energy solution that includes provisions for domestic oil production and expanded use of nuclear power, 22 Republican members remained on the House floor after the lights and cameras had been turned off to demand that Congress return to work. While many Americans can't afford to fill their gas tanks for summer trips, House Democrats voted to ignore efforts to ensure energy independence to go on vacation.

The 'phantom session' held by Republicans after adjournment allowed GOP members to talk with visitors and bring them to the floor while highlighting the Democrats' refusals to put every viable option in the energy bill. After broadcasting information on the phantom session using cell phones and Twitter, the GOP scored a PR coup. Some members are considering returning during the summer to keep the pressure on the Democrats and force Congress to reconvene so that the House can pass a real energy solution for America.

We should hold the House accountable for every day spent without passage of a comprehensive energy bill, and there should be a Republican member on the House floor every day talking with the American people about the need for Congress to get back to work.

This is a transcript of  Media Lizzy's interview with Eric Cantor, Republican Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives regarding yesterday's Sit-In on Capitol Hill protesting the decision by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to kill the debate on adding offshore oil drilling to the American Energy Act prior to the return of Congress in September.

ML - This is one of those moments of courage where we have a real opportunity to do the right thing for our country and see the House Democratic leadership that I talked to a few moments ago that sent me the email with the nasty comment about how this is just a stunt.  Well that’s just fine and he’s entitled to his opinion but the American people we know better.

(introduces Representative Cantor)

ML - While we were in the middle of our show today, one of our regular listeners had just gotten off the phone with another member of Congress and notified us that you guys were taking some pretty courageous actions on the House floor today.  Can you tell us a little about what is exactly happening and how we can assist you in making this work?

EC – I think what you saw happening today was a pretty extraordinary series of events.  Speaker Pelosi and her party had gaveled shut the Congress for the next month because we’re scheduled for August recess and instead of just leaving, there’s a small group of Republicans who decided that we wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to bring a vote to the floor on this issue of energy and gas prices.  There’s no more important issue facing Americas’ families today.  So we began the process of assuming the floor and speaking on this issue, calling out to the Speaker to ask her to reopen the House.  While I was actually speaking in the well on the floor of the House, she actually had the lights turned off, turned off the mikes, turned off the cameras, so that we were there speaking.  What happened was that one member after another began to fill in.  We had more than 50 members of Congress, each on the floor today for over 5 hours.  The chamber began to fill up with American people - people who may have been in town, who may have heard from your show, who may have heard on the blogs that something was going on in the Capitol.  Unfortunately most of America could not see because the Speaker had shut the cameras off and did not want to let the secret out, her secret that she did not want to allow a vote to ensure that we had an American energy plan in place starting with offshore drilling in this country. 

ML – Representative Cantor, that just blows my mind!  For the entire 2006 campaign season as I recall Speaker Pelosi did say that this was going to be the most open Congress ever. 

EC – That’s exactly right and she also pledged that she would have a common sense plan to bring down gas prices.  And yet, what have seen, the only policy proposal coming forward out of her office or Barack Obama’s campaign for that matter have been:

1. The Windfall Profits Tax, which we know doesn’t work, which we know if you tax the American energy producers you’re just going to increase the cost for Americans
2. A Use it or Lose It drilling bill which is really a farce because the assumption is that the leaseholders who have the rights to drill on Federal Lands don’t want to drill right now because maybe prices aren’t high enough, which is preposterous.  An act of Congress trying to open up those lands to other drillers won’t necessarily produce the oil.  It is just crazy to think that Congress can act and make oil come out of the ground. 
3. They try to say that it’s because of speculators that we have these high prices and if we shut down our capital market then somehow we can fix the gas prices too, which is utterly false.  The reason why we’ve seen so much activity in speculation and futures trading is because people are worried.  People are anticipating that prices will go up and what those markets do is allow there to be some smoothing, if you will, of the volatility.

Underlying all of it is the fact that China and India continue to grow and continue to consume more fossil fuel while at the same time we in America continue to as well.  And frankly, demand is going to outstrip supply in the foreseeable future which is why we ought to be on this floor voting rather than taking off for our August recess…

ML – Or her book tour!

EC – Or her book tour, exactly, without making sure that we take care of the People’s business which is first and foremost to try and bring gas prices down. 

ML – My question, and I would like for you to speak to this, is that when we look at just the basics, I mean the Environmental Left, has been trying to play Chicken with the American People under the auspices of Big Oil for a very long time.  And when I look at Big Oil, they actually a trillion dollars into investment and innovation, better technology and better research since 1996 if my memory serves me correctly.  I’m guessing that investing a trillion dollars wasn’t into some magical place, it was probably into jobs and doing things that would actually improve our economy given that it is in their best interest to have the latest technology and that requires manpower to make that happen.  I think that when the Democrats are playing Chicken with the American People on the House Floor and refusing to allow the debate, that we really have to remember who it is that they’re working for.  They work for us, and Speaker Pelosi promised the American People she would be the Speaker of the whole country, of the whole House, of both parties.  And squelching the debate when there is plenty of debate to be had, I think if we’re not going to look at drilling just because there are leases doesn’t mean that it is viable.  The trillion dollars has researched what is available in the outer continental shelf and if those leases are not viable then having additional drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf makes absolute sense, does it not?

EC – Absolutely, that’s the question facing the American People:  where is Speaker Pelosi?  What is she afraid of in terms of bringing a vote, a bill to the floor that we can vote on up or down?  Up – or down?  This is the People’s House and what the U.S. House of Representatives should be about.  We should be debating, crafting a bill that responds to the prices gripping America’s families right now which is high gas prices.  But yet, she’s taken off as you suggest for a book tour, the Democrats have fled town without doing America’s business first, without addressing high gas prices.  And it really, I think, is a sad day for the Middle Class in America.  Who’s speaking up for them?  Nancy Pelosi says “We’re not going to drill here in America but it’s ok to drill in Saudi Arabia, it’s ok for us to spend 700 billion dollars a year, a significant portion of our wealth, to the Middle East regimes, some of whom are very hostile to us.  It’s ok for them to do that but not us.”   Who’s sticking up for the Middle Class here?  That’s what we ought to be focusing on. 

ML – Well, absolutely.  How can we help you?  What can we do?

EC – You’re doing a terrific job of getting the message out on the air, across the Internet, on the blogs, we need to energize folks and to tell Speaker Pelosi to BRING CONGRESS BACK TO ACT so that we can have a vote on the American Energy Act to provide more American energy supply starting with offshore drilling right away. 

ML – I really appreciate your time, I know that you guys are very, very busy on The Hill, and this is one of those moments I think that all of us who are Republicans, who may have been waiting, waiting for that moment of inspiration.  I am really thankful to you for your leadership and I think this is one of those moments when, I know that the mainstream media doesn’t want to cover this too much but the Main Street folks do want it covered. 

EC – We thank you very, very much and encourage all the folks who are paying attention to speak out and demand Speaker Pelosi reconvene Congress so that we can have a vote. 

ML – I want to thank you so much, and I won’t ask you the Vice Presidential question, but you certainly have my vote! 

EC – (amiably) Thank you so much for what you’re doing, we’ll talk to you soon.

ML – All right, take care, Sir.  All right everyone, that was Eric Cantor who is the Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives for the Republicans.  He is phenomenal.  He’s such a great leader, he’s such a great conservative, that is exactly the brand that we need driving Republicans for the next 20 years. 

(Note:  you can email Speaker Pelosi any time at this link)

(Note:  check out Rob Bluey's photos of the sit-in here)

Cross-posted at Lagomorphic Tendencies

Barack Obama's flip-flop on offshore oil drilling is a major strategic victory for House and Senate Republicans.

The Democratic plan was to reup the Congressional ban on offshore oil drilling as part of a long-term continuing resolution. Reid had originally promised a vote on offshore drilling, but has backed off that promise now that it has become a potent issue.

Now it is time to drive this issue home as a clearly branded Republican issue. The longer the fight goes on, the more it paints Democrats into a terrible corner. And there is a synergy between high energy costs and broader economic insecurity that will likely be the driving issue in November.

But let's review the dynamics that will lead to the win on this issue:

First, the dramatic events yesterday on the House floor telegraphed an intent to take this issue into recess. Undoubtedly, this is the major issue that Republican members will be talking about during the recesss. I would be shocked if there were not robocalls dropped in prior to townhalls in Democratic Congressional seats around the country. There will almost certainly be ads. Now the Republicans have a line that "even Barack Obama supports this, so why can't we get a vote in the House and Senate?"

Second, there is a bipartisan group of Senators who are pressuring Reid on this point, not to mention significant caucus-internal pressure on Pelosi. There will be enormous pressure from inside the Congress to force a vote on these issues.

Third, Republicans and conservatives are actually organized on this issue. Drill Here Drill Now has 1.4 million signatures and the American Family Association, with their 3.3 million person list, also seems inclined to play on this issue. You can expect enormous pressure from constituents on these issues.

Fourth,  an enormous majority is with us, and the higher-profile the issue is, the more people are likely to actually vote it. But the Dems have no reasonable action they can take until September while we pound them.

This will be fun. We have to keep track of what happens in Congressional districts and at town halls this recess.

More on that coming.

There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by the first President Bush in 1990. Bush called last month for Congress to lift its prohibition before he did so himself.

"The only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress," Bush said in a statement in the Rose Garden. "Now the ball is squarely in Congress' court."

Bush criticized the deaf, dumb and blind Congress for failing to lift its own ban on offshore drilling.

"For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production," Bush said. "Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. And now Americans are paying at the pump."

According to the scum of the earth Associated Press news agency:

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, called Bush's move "a very important signal" and said his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, should drop his opposition to offshore drilling.

Congressional Democrats, joined by some GOP lawmakers from coastal states, have opposed lifting the prohibition that has barred energy companies from waters along both the East and West coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A succession of presidents, from Bush's father — George H.W. Bush — to Bill Clinton, have sided against drilling in these waters, as has Congress each year for 27 years. Their goal has to been to protect beaches and coastal states' tourism economies.

Well, good luck getting the tourists to drop their discretionary income in our lovely coastal state when they can't afford to drive to work any more.  Let us know how that works out, Governor Schwarzenegger.