A search for “Obama reneges” yields 15,800 hits in Google.
And once again Barack Obama reneges, this time on offshore oil drilling and in so doing makes the United States even more dependent on foreign oil. This is the first step in Obama’s bypassing Congress to rule by Executive Order.
The Obama administration instituted what was supposed to be a six month moratorium on “deepwater”drilling following the Deep Horizon spill. A Federal judge struck it down, but Obama just instituted another one. On October12, the Obama administration announced that it would lift the deepwater drilling moratorium but has issued no new permits.
The issuance of new permits was promised to be a slow process
President Obama lifted his moratorium on deepwater oil drilling nearly a month ago, but the government still hasn’t issued any new permits in the Gulf of Mexico.
And most analysts say permits will be slow in coming through 2011.
Really, really slow, as it turns out.
On Wednesday, the Interior Department said it would not propose oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines or the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years.
As is Obama’s usual policy, he called for bipartisan support while acting in a strictly partisan manner.
But unlike the late March announcement when President Barack Obama took to the podium to embrace domestic energy production and call for bipartisan support in Congress, Wednesday’s declaration came with little fanfare — a press release and a phone call with reporters by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Democrats continued to make painfully clear how stupid they are:
March’s proposal brought instant opposition from two key Atlantic Coast Democratic senators — Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida — who were thrilled Wednesday with the administration’s reversal.
“I regret that it took the spill in the Gulf to have them come to that conclusion that there is no such thing as absolutely safe drilling,” Menendez told reporters.
I don’t know anyone who would ever assert that oil drilling is absolutely safe. Driving a car is not “absolutely safe.” Crossing the street is not “absolutely safe.” Menendez’s statement is “absolutely” idiotic.
Oil prices continue to rise as strong continued demand is forecast.
“The momentum in global economic growth remains strong,” it said. “Overall, the latest U.S. data remain consistent with our view of continued steady demand increases ahead.”
Gasoline prices where I live have risen 25 cents in the last three weeks.
The next domestic oil production confrontation is expected to take place over Alaska.
The next flash point will come in the Arctic, where Shell is trying to get Interior to approve its proposed drilling project in the Beaufort Sea. That operation is at most 200 feet deep, as opposed to the 5,000-foot Macondo well that ruptured and sparked the three-month oil spill that was plugged this summer.
In the Arctic, Salazar said Interior will “proceed with upmost caution,” leaving open the question of whether the agency will greenlight plans by Shell to drill in shallow waters off the coast of Alaska.
The prediction here is that no approvals will be granted. Instead, Obama will push the United States into continued and growing dependency on foreign oil and greater oil costs. It will then be asserted that increased energy costs affect the poor unfairly and look for a supplemental tax to “spread around” the greater energy cost burden.
Don’t bother looking to Congress for that, though. Look for the Executive Order via the EPA. Obama promised this would happen and the time is here.
Meanwhile, unemployment rose “unexpectedly” once again to 9.8%. Apparently we don’t need those jobs in the Gulf or Alaska.
It does make you wonder whose side Obama is on.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
Some say Obama is smart. To a certain extent I would have to agree. On the day (Friday) that very bad news on unemployment was reported across the country; Obama already had plans to purposely be out of the country and away from the criticism.
By the way, Obama is a scammer, a low-life, a creep, the worst of the worst. Support Lakin and his effort to access Obama’s true identity.
Somebody at hubby’s business has family living on the Gulf.
From their home they can see Russian oil rigs drilling the oil Obama will not allow our businesses drill.
They are drilling it using Cuba as a base for their operations.
So, it isn’t like the Federal Oil Reserve which, when we do not use it, at least we still have it.
This oil is being drilled.
By others.
We lose.
They win.
And, if they have a spill?
We will still be doing the cleanup without any of the benefit.
Wikileaks has provided us a big clue as to why Obama was SO respectful to Saudi King Abdullah, as seen in the above photo.
Just a day or two before they met the King told Obama’s counter terrorism advisor, John Brennen, this:
“Thank God for bringing Obama to the Presidency.”
“May God grant him strength and patience.”
“May God protect him. ”
“I’m concerned about his personal safety.”
“America and the world need such a President,” the Saudi King said according to the State Department cable.
Time to start thinking impeachment!
So looks like our own oil will stay underground just as if we were conserving our own natural resources. Nan Cuba will BEGIN drilling next year and when they do it will not be visible from the USA Cuba is 97 miles away at its closest point. The drilling will will be exploratory and will be 50 miles from the USA. AND the consortium doing it will NOT include Russians. It will be done by Respro a Spanish company and India’s t run Oil and Gas Company and Norway’s StatOil/Hydro http://politics.usnews.com/news/energy/articles/2009/02/03/cuba-plans-new-offshore-drilling-in-search-for-big-oil-finds-in-the-gulf-of-mexico.html
Regarding the gotcha photos of Obama bowing:
Please go to Google images and enter:
bush kissing saudi king
or else, just click on:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1197&bih=655&q=bush+kissing+saudi+king&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
@ Nan G, #2:
If certain U.S. political factions weren’t so hell-bent on maintaining our absurd 48-years-and-running trade embargo against Cuba, U.S. drilling companies would undoubtedly be at work there instead of the Russian energy company, Gazprom. Their intransigence has created this situation, and the longer it goes on the worse it will become.
Normalization of U.S. trade relations with Cuba would be enormously beneficial to the people of both nations. I suspect more moderate politics on the island would soon follow.
Nan G —
You have given us a lot to ponder. First, about the Saudi prince liking Obama and praying for his safety . . . how is that a BAD THING that out ally in the war on terror, one of the country’s really taking it al Qaeda, obviously admires the president? Please explain why you would rather have such an ally be personally indifferent, if not hostile, to Obama. How would that be better for the United States of America?
You also wrote
You are either lying through your teeth or ignorant about geography. The Gulf of Mexico is nowhere near Cuba such that anyone with “family living on the Gulf” “can see Russian oil rigs drilling” “using Cuba [several hundred miles away] as a base”. Indeed, since Cuba is 90 miles SOUTHEAST of Florida in the Atlantic, and the Gulf is to the west, anyone in the Gulf who is able to see Russian rigs in Cuban waters must have a land based version of the Hubble telescope at their house. Either that or you and they are just lying . . . .
Larry, we weren’t wild about Bush kissing him, but it still beats bowing. In fact, obama briefly got into the habit of bowing when he shouldn’t.
Actually, hubby’s employee’s family was referring to being on their boat and seeing them, not from their home.
DrJohn —
The title of your post is absolutely false. It might feel good to get GOPer cons all stoked with anti-Obama rhetoric, but what you printed is simply not true.
How does prohibiting oil leases today make us one iota more dependent on foreign oil? The leases would have been let in March 2011 and thereafter. They would not be productive for years. So there is no change whatsoever in our dependence. Now eight years from now, when those leased areas might have been productive, THEN we will have less production capability than we otherwise would have. But even that ASSUMES that the wells would produce oil eight years from now; they might and they might not. If the price of oil was high enough to justify the cost of production from that area, and the wells were drilled, then there would be a cognizable loss of productivity. But if the wells are not drilled or the spot price of oil doesn’t justify that production, there would be no production from there, lease or no leases. But one thing is certain — these leases not being let in March of next year make not a single iota of difference in our domestic oil production capacity for a number or years.
People forget how much oil we WERE drilling out of the Gulf before Obama imposed his unscientific moratorium on that.
Huge rigs picked up and left for places they could drill.
At a huge cost they were moved to off Egypt, off Congo, off Nigeria.
But even that huge cost was cheaper than leaving them to go to waste.
Now, for WHAT reason has Obama extended his unscientific moratorium to the East and West coasts as well as the Gulf?
He wants to starve American business.
Any way he can.
Nan —
So the husband’s family lives on the Gulf, but they drove or sailed all the way over to the Atlantic to watch the Russians drilling off Cuba, which is 90 miles from south Florida and several hundred miles from the Gulf waters that Obama declared off limits? Uh, huh . . . got it.
By the way — what do oil leases off the west coast of Florida have to do with the Russians drilling off Cuba? Are you calling for the end of the boycott of Cuba so that our oil companies can do business with Cuba? Fine. But it is the GOP that pushed through Helms-Burton and the GOP that is insistent on keeping the dumb forty-plus year old embargo in place.
You want more jobs for U.S. oil workers? Then drop the embargo! Indeed, since the GOP is set to take over the House, ending the embargo should/could be at the top of their agenda as a way to increase trade and open up Cuba to oil and real estate development. But guess who would be the first people to yell “Communist!if Obama proposed making that move? Yep . . . GOPer cons!
Nan G. —
Are you seriously claiming you don’t know why he just closed the waters that he opened in March 2010? Do you not recall a HUGE OIL SPILL that BP was not prepared to handle? Do you not recall 11 people being incinerated in a fireball caused by poor management of that well? The billions of dollars in damages to the land, the fisheries, etc.? Did you forget all that already?
Do you think it is asking too much, Nan, to require oil companies to have REAL plans in place to deal with oil spills, instead of spending a couple months hacking around trying to figure it out on the fly? Do you think MAYBE the spill exposed some holes in regulating how the oil contractors drill and make decisions about capping wells?
And how is it “unscientific” to not have new drilling UNTIL the oil companies prove they know what the hell they are doing? Yeah, you can quibble about the wells in process . . . but what is “unscientific” about no NEW drilling?
Seems to me that GOPer cons saw their illogical “drill baby drill”mantra go up in smoke when that well blew up. Now you are casting about trying to find some way to blame Obama for something he did nothing to cause, but has to manage going forward. Just more silliness . . . .
I can’t remember if it was Art Buchwald or Stewart Alsop who made this point maybe 30 years ago. Why not just buy whatever oil we need on the world market and save our own oil for when everyone else’s oil runs out? By this time, we’ll have alternative energy and we can corner the market on petrochemicals.
I don’t necessarily agree with this, but it is one point of view.
– LW/HB
So B-rob,
What … No stories from your reservoir of fantasy friends to provide absolute proof of your argument?
openid.aol.com/runnswim
15Reply to this comment
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My hubby also makes that same point every now and again.
I remember the last time he did…..
It was either when Saddam was setting his thousand Kuwaiti oil wells alight or when some Nigerian had exploded one of his own country’s pipelines recently.
And considering all of the oil we have trapped in shale we might just one day be THE place to come to to buy oil!
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R bob,
Consider how the Obama administration manipulated scientific findings (remember the promise to be scientific?).
This is from Politico:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44921.html
“The White House edit of the original DOI draft executive summary led to the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer-reviewed by the experts,” the IG report states, without judgment on whether the change was an intentional attempt to mislead the public.
……………
Worse, the regulations by the EPA have been foot-draggingly awful.
So the moratorium was lifted before the election for politically expedient reasons.
Guess what?
As soon as those elections were over Obama imposed that moratorium once again, expanded and worse.
Now, if we have an airplane crash would you apply your ”logic” that Obama should impose a 100% moratorium on all air traffic in the USA unless and until all airlines can prove they know what they are doing???
Limit drilling along the coast of the US, protest the transportation of heavy oil equipment from the west coast through Idaho, protest the drilling and fracking of Marcellus oil shale deposits in PA and NY, protest the building of a pipe line through Oregon, stop the drilling in CA, FL, promise to end coal fired power plants, all an endless assault on the United States economy, all a never ending litigation of every move to independence from foreign oil. It has nothing, nothing to do with the environment, it has everything to do with anti American politics.
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim #6
Bush’s actions are those of an equal. Obama’s actions are those of a servant.
Try harder.
@ Brob #11
In 1995 Clinton refused to allow drilling in Alaska. He said there was no point because it would take ten years to get oil flowing.
Your argument is as stupid now as Clinton’s reasoning was then.
Meanwhile, China, Brazil and Mexico benefit from the same Gulf which hosts 800 rigs.
Obama lied about the reason for shutting down the rigs and you’re still defending him?
Really?
@B-Rob The US can only lease out areas of drilling that are with in the 13 mile marker. International waters are open to anyone willing to give it a go (except for US companies that is because of regulations) Russia and China both have rigs in international waters and do have base of operations in Cuba (meaning offices and open ports). These rigs could be drilling in to deposits that very well could be considered US resources.
The time it takes for a rig to drill and start producing is very irrelevant. Because if we don’t go for those resources (no matter when we get to them) are resources we have to buy from someone else making us more dependent for foreign oil as the need continues to rise. The logic of “it takes too long to get anything from it” is a very poor argument in the grander view of things, especially when you want energy independence.
From B-Rob:
That’s worked out well for us since:
How’s that working out for us?
Wikileaks & Drilling & Global Warming
Important note in the linked article:
The cables obtained by WikiLeaks finish at the end of February 2010.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-us-manipulated-climate-accord
The US diplomatic cables reveal how the US seeks dirt on nations opposed to its approach to tackling global warming;
how financial and other aid is used by countries to gain political backing;
how distrust, broken promises and creative accounting dog negotiations;
and how the US mounted a secret global diplomatic offensive to overwhelm opposition to the controversial “Copenhagen accord”, the unofficial document that emerged from the ruins of the Copenhagen climate change summit in 2009.
Seeking negotiating chips, the US state department sent a secret cable on 31 July 2009 seeking human intelligence from UN diplomats across a range of issues, including climate change.
The request originated with the CIA.
As well as countries’ negotiating positions for Copenhagen, diplomats were asked to provide evidence of UN environmental “treaty circumvention” and deals between nations.
On 2 February 2009, a cable from Addis Ababa reports a meeting between the US undersecretary of state Maria Otero and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who leads the African Union’s climate change negotiations.
The confidential cable records a blunt US threat to Zenawi: sign the accord or discussion ends now. Zenawi responds that Ethiopia will support the accord, but …..
US determination to seek allies against its most powerful adversaries – the rising economic giants of Brazil, South Africa, India, China (Basic) – is set out in another cable from Brussels on 17 February ……
Froman said the EU needed to learn from Basic’s skill at impeding US and EU initiatives and playing them off against each in order “to better handle third country obstructionism and avoid future train wrecks on climate”.
Hedegaard is keen to reassure Froman of EU support, revealing a difference between public and private statements. “She hoped the US noted the EU was muting its criticism of the US, to be constructive,” the cable said. Hedegaard and Froman discuss the need to “neutralise, co-opt or marginalise unhelpful countries including Venezuela and Bolivia”……Later, in April, the US cut aid to Bolivia and Ecuador, citing opposition to the accord.
Perhaps the most audacious appeal for funds revealed in the cables is from Saudi Arabia, the world’s second biggest oil producer and one of the 25 richest countries in the world.
A secret cable sent on 12 February records a meeting between US embassy officials and lead climate change negotiator Mohammad al-Sabban.
“The kingdom will need time to diversify its economy away from petroleum, [Sabban] said, noting a US commitment to help Saudi Arabia with its economic diversification efforts would ‘take the pressure off climate change negotiations’.”
More at source.
As a hobby, i’m doing my own autopsy of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout fiasco.
Some of the high pressure casing was hung and not a continuous string- shortcut and absolute insanity. Nitrogen cement was never used at that depth before. Personally, I don’t like it because its too light and too finicky with all the chemicals used to make it set. The combination of unreliable cement and hung casing- disaster. The “hot” cement would melt the methane hydrides and cause unwanted gas kicks. Displacing heavy mud before setting the final plug- lack of common sense and trying to save rig time. Inadequate BOP system. Only one set of shear rams. Your EPA and or interior department was full of incompetants who signed off on fudged pressure tests. Surprising what BP’s propaganda program “Beyond Oil” and political donations can do for their drilling program. There are many more reasons for this perfect storm.
Stay tuned for gasbaggery from the left and the Bamster’s anti Midas touch.
oil guy, please allow me to be the first to request that you submit a “reader post” for your final analysis. The “submission” link is across the top of the site. PLEASE!
Mata, the patient flyswatter of left wing causes. I’d be honored to post a layman’s version of the disaster in the Gulf. I’ll get some help in order to make it entertaining and completely factual ,and understandable. Tall order.
To the Bill Clinton types who say that by the time fossil fuels come on line- garbage, you don’t know what you’re talking about. The Hunt Bros. out of Dallas are awesome and real mavericks.
I planned and consulted a hole north of Hinton, Alberta, for Hunt Energy. A pipeline for natural gas was close by and they could increase their cash flow. Their next hole planned was a wildcat drill in Newfoundland. I sadly declined because of a previous commitment.
I have no idea where they got the drilling rig( junk from the Gulf?), the crews, and the engineering, but they hit a flowing oil well in 8 months. They hired just about anything that could carry oil in that province. A new refinery at Come by Chance, Newfoundland welcomed the new found oil. That refinery was built for offshore oil. These entrepreneurs deserve every dime and tax break out there. I admire those Americans, and I know they pay US federal income taxes while developing the Canadian income tax system. Win-win.