[StBernard] Goodbye Moratorium, Hello Permitorium

[Westley Annis]

Dear American Energy Supporters, 

On Tuesday, the Obama Administration made a show of "lifting" the moratorium on deepwater drilling.  The reality is that nothing has changed.

Offshore oil rigs, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, lay idle because of the policies of this Administration.  These "energy factories," and the men and women who provide our nation with the energy we need to fuel our cars and power our economy, are out of work because of this Administration's war on affordable energy.  Small businesses are laying off workers, pinching pennies and wondering if their life’s work will disappear to foreign shores where more responsible governments are begging for investments, jobs and energy.

Eleven rigs have already left our waters, and more will follow.  And yet, the Obama Administration continues to wreak havoc on communities that depend on producing energy by implementing its “tightening the spigot” approach to our own supplies.  Because the Gulf of Mexico is federally-controlled, all new exploration requires new permits from the Administration.  But the Administration is awarding few new permits.  In fact, at the end of last week, the government had issued about 10% of the normal permits for new wells in the shallow waters of the Gulf...and that is an area not under moratorium!  

Can any business operate at 10% and survive?  Could the government be cut to 10% and survive?  What would those same politicians say if someone proposed slashing their means of productivity by 90%? Without permits, the moratorium goes on endlessly, simply replaced by a “permitorium. <http://emails.instituteforenergyresearch.org/q/fERL0ORTqx-NN068Q9AqplUKMoBksaRGkvRZ7iaS9pBkxrJGWDrYQL8jU> ”

Now the Administration has claimed they have removed the moratorium in deep water, but has also said they will impose new requirements for domestic energy production which they have not even made public yet.  This uncertainty will keep Americans out of work and force us to import more and more foreign oil.  Instead of investing here at home, companies will head to other nations, who actually want jobs, investment and energy.

While most countries see energy as a benefit to their economy, our own government treats energy use as a sin, rather than the great amplifier of human strength and productivity which has given us the best standard of living on earth. Already the Chinese have passed the U.S. in energy use, and through that use, catapulted themselves into the number two economy in the world, bypassing Japan and Germany and other nations that have expensive taxes and other costly mandates not unlike the ones that are being imposed on us here in this country.

What do you think about this latest development?  What should we do about it?  Let us know how you feel by leaving us a comment <http://emails.instituteforenergyresearch.org/q/Rr110js6cEIgRkNqVRnHFv8XmQMd25C2d4CZia50t9M57CjGWUHAVy3h0> .

Thank you for your continued support.


Sincerely,

Tom Pyle
President
The Institute for Energy Research