Hidden Agenda

Valley Patriot Editorial

The Democrats secretly want high energy prices

August, 2008

The Democrats are vacationing while the nation is suffering with gas prices near $4 per gallon. We also face a cold winter with heating oil approaching $5 per gallon. Yet, the Democrats won’t permit increased access to economically viable oil deposits. Their arguments are so blatantly illogical that they can only be explained by deceit. 

If Democrats want to maintain high energy prices, forcing us to switch to solar/wind power, they should be honest and say so. They shouldn’t lie about their real intentions.

Congresswoman Tsongas’ article (see page 24) provides a host of examples of Democrat deception. Here are just a few:

Speculators: Tsongas claims that speculators are the culprit and that their “speculation” raises oil prices $20 – $60 per barrel (an unsupported and unlikely claim). But speculation cuts both ways.  Speculators bet on prices going down as well as up. Why does Tsongas think bets accumulated on the “up” side? And, why focus on oil and not sugar or pork bellies? Could it be that analysts foresee a pending oil shortage? Maybe we should increase drilling and supply instead of shooting the messengers!

ANWR vs Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve – Tsongas argues that the oil companies should drill in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (ANPR) instead of ANWR. What she doesn’t tell you is that ANPR’s oil is spread out over more than 20 million acres while ANWR’s proposed production site covers only 2,000 acres! Did she mention that ANPR is 250 miles from existing pipelines while the ANWR site is only 75 miles? 
With environmental challenges sure to stop drilling over such a wide area, not to mention construction of such long pipelines, the Democrats know that ANPR oil production can and will be stopped in the courts. 

Looney Toon Economics: Tsongas tells us that adding 70 thousand barrels of oil per day to the world market will reduce gas prices 25 cents. Later we’re told we can’t drill our way out of this shortage because any new production “would not reduce the cost of gas by more than a few pennies.” But ANWR is projected to produce over 700 thousand barrels per day! By Tsongas’ calculations, this should reduce the price by $2.50 per gallon, not “a few pennies”!

The Deception is Unending: Tsongas stresses that not all current leases are being drilled (many are uneconomical) and that new production is ten years away (many potential leases could produce in 3 to 5 years). She says oil companies won’t drill because there is “little incentive for them to take on the financial risks of increased drilling.” But won’t capitalist greed and $130/barrel oil ensure drilling? 

It is time stop the deception and come clean. Either Democrats want the productive resources of America to fix this problem or they want to permanently cripple us with high energy prices to serve their own global warming, big-government agenda. Just tell us the truth.  

All pictures and material are (C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008