America and Energy Indepenence

The biggest problem with importing oil is it hurts our manufacturing sector...the last three or four administrations have claimed massive blocks of oil rich land and labeled them Wildlife Refuges or National parks.... don’t get me wrong...I absolutely love nature and I think it important to preserve it and the ecosystem that goes along with it. But a good example of the govt. squashing energy in the US is ANWR...The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is a huge tract of almost uninhabitable tundra in the arctic circle...no endangered species are present there...but it is protected and drilling is banned, there is also has a HUGE oil reserve there...it was claimed by Bush (I think it was Bush) shortly after oil was discovered there.

Bakken oil fields in N. Dakota is another example...oil isn't produced there at the level it should because of govt. interference...this oil reserve has more oil than the entire middle east...and anyone who has ever been to Minot, N. Dakota knows there is no reason NOT to drill there.

One of the biggest examples of Government interference in our nation’s ability to have energy independence is the Gulf of Mexico...the current administration banned drilling in the Gulf after the BP blow-out and spill...but the same Admin has approved drilling in the same area for foreign companies like Brazil, Venezuela, China, and Mexico. Meanwhile, American oil companies are banned. Just for the record on this specific area...I think it is unsafe to drill in the Gulf because the BP blowout and spill shattered the sea floor. Methane and oil are seeping through cracks in the sea floor for miles around that blowout. The wildlife is severely damaged there, and it is because the Govt. agency that was responsible for safety blew it and allowed COREXIT (an extremely toxic oil dispersant) to be used on that spill. It is NOT Obama's fault that the failure occurred...more likely it's Bush's fault.... however, it IS Obama's administration that is granting permits to foreign oil while banning domestic oil...I do blame him for that.


I think alternative energy is the answer for the future...but the infrastructure to support it now isn't in place...the current energy policy is like jumping off a cliff and trying to build your wings on the way down. We are blocking domestic oil and putting folks out of work...we are giving billions in alt energy grants to companies who build factories in foreign countries, while banning the most efficient solar panels and solar energy technology from being imported into the US.

The quick easy way for our country to become energy self-sufficient is for the govt. to get out of the way and let us do it ourselves.