Nebraska Gov. Heineman to the Left of Obama Administration on Keystone Pipeline

Nebraska Republicans repeating talking points from Al Gore and Hollywood airheads

After three years of cumbersome red tape, environmental impact studies, and endless litigation, the Canadian Keystone KL Pipeline extension project is close to obtaining final approval from the State Department.  This $7 billion pipeline project, when completed, would transport over 700,000 barrels of oil per day from the Canadian tar sands in northeast Alberta to the hungry oil refineries on the Texas Gulf coast.  This project, along with current imports, would deliver 10% of our energy needs from our most friendly ally, by using the safest, most efficient means of transportation; a pipeline.

Due to the international scope of this project, the State Department was required to sign off on its final approval.  Despite the issuance of two favorable impact studies from the State Department, the EPA had refused to issue the requisite permits for this 1,800-mile pipeline – an endeavor that would create close to 120,000 primary and secondary jobs and generate $5.2 billion in property tax revenue for Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Finally, amidst growing pressure from House Republicans, and the threat from TransCanada Corp. to take their business to – you guessed it – China, the administration appeared to be backing down.  Last Friday, the State Department published their revised environmental impact study to satisfy the EPA’s new demands for even more scrutiny.  The report concluded once again that the pipeline would have “no significant impact” on local environmental resources.  They also astutely observed that “if the proposed Project is not implemented, Canadian producers would seek alternative transportation systems to move oil to markets other than the U.S.”  Even ultra-greenie Energy Secretary Steven Chu appeared to support the project, noting that “it’s certainly true that having Canada as a supplier of our oil is much more comforting than to have other countries supply our oil,”  and that the technology for oil sand extraction is “improving dramatically.” [video here]

Now, as the public ways in during the final 90 days prior to the project’s approval, environmental groups and Hollywood figures are having a meltdown.  Sadly, it appears that Republican Governor Dave Heineman and several other Nebraska GOPers are throwing in with them.

Let's Replace EPA With Employment Protection Agency

We must link the budget crisis with job creation and the cost of living.

When members of Congress return to Washington in September, they must confront the next budget challenge; a Continuing Resolution for FY 2012.  While the top line discretionary spending level has already been agreed upon through the debt ceiling agreement, the specific levels of funding for each department and agency are still up for debate (or closed-door negotiations, in this case).  Unfortunately, instead of prudently analyzing each line item of the budget through individual appropriations bills, as prescribed by the 1974 budget act, Congress will be forced to impetuously consider the entire federal budget in one bill.  There is one line item that should not be disregarded throughout the process; cutting down the EPA.

Obama and his socialist minions at the EPA intuitively understand that energy production in general, and fossil fuels, in particular, serve as the lifeblood of a free and prosperous economy.  This is why they have launched an inexorable war against our energy producers.  By disrupting our energy productivity, and replacing it with no-growth, impotent green energy sources, Obama plans not only to destroy thousands of jobs within the energy sector, but millions of jobs throughout every facet of the economy – jobs that are so reliant on reliable and cheap energy. The only jobs that will be sparred are the ones of his green corporate cronies, such as Johnson Controls, the electric car battery manufacturer in Michigan that was paid a visit by Obama on Thursday.

Let's review some of the most recent sinister attempts by the EPA to discomfit our energy producers, kill jobs, and raise the cost of living on the very objects of their reprehensible class warfare.

The EPA has considerably diminished the volume of oil production in Alaska over the past view years.  They are refusing to issue permits for drilling on and offshore, while encumbering the process with unrealistic regulations.  These actions have triggered an alarming decrease in the flow of oil through the Alaska pipeline, threatening its future sustainability.  Additionally, the EPA has delayed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline for years, costing us thousands of jobs, cheap imports of oil-sands oil from our Canadian friends, and much-needed revenue to some heartland states.

What about natural gas?  Even though shale fracking for natural gas has produced an unprecedented amount of jobs in North Dakota and Texas, while producing cheap energy for our hungry markets, EPA Director Lisa Jackson is seeking to destroy it.  She is now collaborating with environmental extremists to terminate this revolutionary means of energy exploration indefinitely.

Obama Administration Continues its Anti-Drilling Chicanery in Alaska

A case of good cop/bad cop between unaccountable bureaucrats.

Last month, during his weekly radio address, Barack Obama announced his plans to drill in NPR-A.  No-he wasn't planning to eviscerate his genuflecting media outlet; he was promising to issue more land leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Like most of his capricious gestures to conservative policy initiatives, this promise was vapid of substance and lacking accountability.  He knew all along that his unelected bureaucrats at the DOI and EPA would filibuster every step of the leasing process indefinitely.  It was essentially an administrative pocket veto to preempt any drilling proposals in Alaska.  As such, it is not surprising to hear that his cohorts in these departments are bailing him out of his duplicitous promise. 

This 23-million-acre reserve lies to the west of the smaller Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) on the Alaska North Slope.  Although this wilderness, owned by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, was designated in 1976 for the expressed purpose of exploring for oil and gas, it was ostensibly closed to drilling until 1998.  Moreover, environmental lawsuits and bureaucratic obduracy have prevented a single oil well from being developed for the past 13 years.

Accordingly, there was no reason to believe that Obama, the most anti-energy president of all time, would turn NPR-A into a catalyst for drill, baby, drill.  When Obama announced his new leasing policies, I noted that Obama's promise to drill in Alaska was yet "another attempt at subterfuge for the purpose of tamping down the outrage toward his job-killing, anti-growth policies", and that he would rely on his minions at the EPA to "encumber any meaningful drilling policies with endless environmental impact studies."

Well, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that this is exactly what is now occurring in the NPR-A.  The EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers are denying ConocoPhilips a permit to build a bridge, a gravel road, and a pipeline from their proposed drilling sight in the NPR.  To make matters worse, any drilling project in the Arctic requires approval by the EPA.  This has created bureaucratic friction, impelling multiple agencies to impose competing mandates on the drilling applicants:

The Left's War on Food for Poor Continues

Last week, we reported on the record number of Americans enrolled in the food stamp program.  As we observe the efforts of the left to drive up the cost of food, there is no wonder why so many people are having trouble feeding their families.  Their policies mandating the use of corn as fuel, as well as the inflationary aspects of the Fed's recent QE2 policies, have kept the cost of food high for a long time.  Now, Obama's EPA is working on a proposal to increase the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 10% to 15%.  What about its effect on food prices?  Let them use food stamps, says Obama's government.

It's ironic that the government plans to augment ethanol mandates even as poor and developing countries are facing skyrocketing food prices.  There is no doubt that ethanol is one of the culprits behind the economic upheaval that led to the political turmoil in Egypt.  Egypt has to import most of their wheat, and with grain-based commodities rising as a result of increased ethanol production, Egyptians simply cannot afford a loaf of bread.  Almost 40% of corn produced in the U.S. is used for this substandard fuel, yet it is still not enough of a poverty enhancer for the left.  Yes, the very same left that purports to care about the impoverished and the third world.

In addition to its disastrous effects on the food supply, this decision could turn out to be dangerous for motorists.  Higher bio-fuel blends have already been tested and have shown a propensity to melt the gas pumps and storage tanks!  Furthermore, even the EPA has come out with a long report detailing the negative environmental effects that ethanol production has on the water and soil.  So, we have a situation in which mandates, tariffs, and tax credits enrich the government/corporate complex, while driving up the cost of fuel and food on the poor and actually harming the environment.  Who are the ones to care for the poor and the environment again?

Meanwhile, potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich gave a speech defending ethanol in...Iowa! (The WSJ has a great write-up on Newt's corn boondoggle here.) He can join Senator John Thune as a presidential candidate who is willing to peddle corporate cronyism in order to win Iowa.

Hey EPA, Don't Mess with Texas

As Americans continue to shiver during this record cold December, the government continues to implement its regressive energy policies under the guise of global warming.  Over the past 40 years, the regressives have successfully blocked the construction of the most modern, clean, and efficient power plants and oil refineries in the world.  They have also mounted a full scale assault on coal and oil exploration.  In addition, the green energy subsidies and mandates, along with the regulations on fuel transportation and blends, has kept the price of energy near all time highs.  But, it appears that the Obama administration isn't satisfied with preventing the construction of new power plants and refineries.  The EPA is now ordering existing power plants and refineries in Texas to curb their carbon emissions.  The regressives obviously feel that the "little guy" isn't paying enough for his basic needs.

Here is the report from the Houston Chronicle:

The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday effectively declared Texas unfit to regulate its own greenhouse gas emissions and took over carbon dioxide permitting of any new or expanding industrial facilities starting Jan. 2.

The EPA also set up a framework for regulating greenhouse gas emissions in seven other states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon and Wyoming. In addition, the agency set a timetable on establishing regulated levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The action will give the EPA permitting authority over refineries, power plants and cement facilities in Texas, the agency said, but will not affect small pollution source facilities, such as restaurants and farms.

Luckily, they are picking on a state with a solid conservative Governor.  Here is Rick Perry's response:

Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the state's lawsuit against the EPA is continuing in an effort to prove the agency never was given authority by Congress to regulate greenhouse gases.

"The EPAs misguided plan paints a huge target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers by implementing unnecessary, burdensome mandates on our state's energy sector, threatening hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs and imposing increased living costs on Texas families," Cesinger said.

She said the state's flexible air quality permitting system led to a 22 percent reduction in ozone and a 53 percent decrease in nitric oxide emissions since 2000.

While it is important that states take the initiative in the fight against unconstitutional administrative fiats, they need assistance from Congress.  When the Republican House majority is sworn in, they need to immediately curtail the EPA's illegal activities.  This is the time for Energy Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hasting to fulfill their campaign promise of reigning in the EPA.  Republicans have a golden opportunity to educate the American people on the regressiveness of the progressives, by illustrating how their anti-growth policies are destroying manufacturing jobs, while raising the cost of living on vital goods and services.  We will need our eventual presidential nominee to grab the mantel of true energy reform.  Until then, Texas will have to pave the way.  As the state with the most job creation, they have the right to declare, "don't mess with Texas".

The EPA's War on.....Bed Bugs!

Liberals always like to feign indignation towards government regulation of marriage by exclaiming that "the government should stay out of our bedrooms."  Well, it appears that the EPA is doing just that.  Accodring to The Hill, the EPA will be holding a summit next year to "help find solutions to the nation’s bed bug problem.”  They report:

At the Feb. 1-2 meeting, government officials will review the progress made by the Federal Bed Bug Workgroup, which includes representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture. The EPA held the first bed bug summit last year.

The EPA said the summit’s agenda includes “identifying knowledge gaps and barriers to effective community-wide bed bug control, proposals for next steps in addressing knowledge gaps and eliminating barriers, and developing a framework for addressing the highest priority needs.”

Talk about the nanny state!  Well, Fred Upton, the incoming Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee is now provided with an opportunity to show that he is serious about reducing the mandate of the EPA.  He might want to start with cutting their budget for bed bug summits.