Republicans Still Rock the House - Washington D. C. - Aug 8, 2008

ARRA News Service - In the House, the Republican protest over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to allow a vote on drilling enters its second week today. The message is clearly having an impact, as Politico reports that “MoveOn.org announced Thursday it was launching radio ads targeting Republicans for organizing the protest.” MoveOn is apparently desperate to blunt the momentum for more drilling; a new Rasmussen poll that shows 57% of Democrats and 61% of independent voters see finding new energy sources as a priority. Rasmussen Reports also notes: “With energy issues taking center stage in the presidential campaign, 81% of Americans see development of new energy sources as an urgent priority. Only 9% disagree.”

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House members who signed petition to increase U.S. oil

ARRA News Service -Washington, July 25, 2008 - U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has challenged all 435 members of the U.S. House to sign a petition that reads "I will vote to increase U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans."

Below are the 192 members and counting who have signed:

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) Rep. Henry Brown (R-S.C.) Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) Rep. Mike Burgess (R-Texas) Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) Rep. Don Cazayoux (D-La.) Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.) Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.) Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.) Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Ohio) Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.) Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.)

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.) Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Ky.) Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) Rep. Todd Platts (R-Pa.) Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.) Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.) Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho) Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)

Members who said "No" to the petition:

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.) Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.)

Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.)

NOTE: If your member is not listed, his or her office has been contacted but has not responded.

Oil & Technology that Environmentalists Don't Want You to Know About

It is time to dust off a relevant March 6, 1997 editorial: "World has more oil than far left environmentalists admit." Did the environmentalist and liberal democrats in Congress think that we would not remember or note that the technology exists to exact more oil from former U.S. wells? No wonder they would also like to control the flow of information on the Internet, talk radio and between elected representatives and their constituents.

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Far-left environmentalists claim that the World Oil reserves are running out. However, reported new discoveries, advanced technology and untapped oil reserves (save the caribou program) prove they are again expressing fiction. In a left leaning biased New York Times article the truth "gushes out. the article, Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells , revealed that "engineers here started injecting high-pressured steam to pump out more oil. The field, whose production had slumped to 10,000 barrels a day in the 1960s, now has a daily output of 85,000 barrels. In Indonesia, Chevron has applied the same technology to the giant Duri oil field, discovered in 1941, boosting production there to more than 200,000 barrels a day, up from 65,000 barrels in the mid-1980s. ... Within the last decade, technology advances have made it possible to unlock more oil from old fields, and, at the same time, higher oil prices have made it economical for companies to go after reserves that are harder to reach. With plenty of oil still left in familiar locations, forecasts that the world’s reserves are drying out have given way to predictions that more oil can be found than ever before." And this technology can be applied to American oil fileds when the extraction of oil slows down in the Arab oil fields (figure at right).

A BusineesWeek article in 2005 (Is There Plenty Of Oil?) reported:

"The four giant oil fields ... located under thousands of feet of water off the coast of Louisiana, are just beginning to pump their first barrels. At their peak rates later in the decade, they'll produce some 500,000 bbl. per day, an amount akin to floating a small Middle Eastern country such as Syria or Yemen into the Gulf of Mexico. "Add them together, and it's a massive step change," says David Eyton, BP's vice-president for deepwater in the Gulf. "The investment we're making will more than offset declines we're seeing in Alaska and the Continental Shelf."

And we have not even detailed the oil fields where the left-wing don't want us to drill. Well excuse us and get out of the way!


New Life for Old Oil Fields

Truckers to Washington: Drill for oil!

ARRA News Service - H/T to Renee Taylor at Truckers at War for the following: LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Truckers are telling Washington to do something about the high prices of fuel and quit blaming the oil companies and OPEC.

“The temporary solutions aren’t any good,” David Kilcoin, a truck owner-operator from Phoenix, Ariz., told WND at the Great West Truck Show going on now at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “We don’t need a quick fix; what we need is to develop what we have offshore, in Alaska and from oil shale,” he said. More from WorldNetDaily

What's the Story with High Gas Prices?

ARRA News Service: IER hit the streets to ask why people thought gas prices were so high, who was to blame, and what could be done to lower them. Additional commentary by Mary Hutzler, a former Energy Department official and Senior Fellow at IER.

Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008

ARRA News Service - Senate Republicans unveiled a new energy plan, the Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008, which will open up the outer continental shelf for oil exploration and remove the moratorium on Western oil shale exploration imposed by Democrats last year.

The new bill, cosponsored by 42 Republican senators, is designed to give Democrats another chance to support more American energy and more American jobs. While Republicans in the Senate continue to strongly support environmentally responsible oil exploration in ANWR, the new bill is designed to remove that as an excuse for Democrats to hide behind. If Senate Democrats will not support these sensible ways to increase American access to oil and natural gas, and thus alleviate some of the pressure pushing gas prices higher, they will have to go home next week and explain to their constituents why.

In contrast, Senate Democrats have offered nothing except taxation, regulation and litigation in response to the problem of high energy costs. House Democrats’ continue to fumble on energy legislation, as the continue to put forth proposals that will do nothing to lower gas prices.

Summary of Provisions
TITLE I – DEEP SEA EXPLORATION (OCS)
14 Billion Barrels On Atlantic and Pacific OCS – More Than All US Imports From Persian Gulf Countries Over The Last 15 Years

• State Option Nationwide (except Gulf of Mexico)
• Governor petitions to allow exploration, with concurrence of state legislature
• Exploration must be at least 50 miles from coast
• 50% of revenues to Federal Treasury, 37.5% to States, 12.5% to Land & Water Conservation Fund

TITLE II: WESTERN STATE OIL SHALE EXPLORATION
More Than 3 Times The Oil Reserves Of Saudi Arabia

• 800 billion - 2 trillion potentially recoverable barrels in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming
• Democrat Congress put moratorium on final regulations for development of this resource
• Republican proposal would repeal the moratorium and allow exploration to move forward

TITLE III: PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CARS AND TRUCKS

• We need better batteries to maximize electricity range & use less gas
• Increased R&D for advanced batteries
• Direct Loans for advanced battery manufacturing facilities
• Sense of Senate that the Federal Government should increase its purchases of these vehicles

TITLE IV: STRENGTHENING U.S. FUTURES MARKETS

• Authorizes increased funding/staff for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
• Directs the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets to study the international regulation of commodities markets
• Codifies CFTC action on position limits and transparency for foreign boards of trade
• Requires the CFTC to gather information on index traders and swap dealers

Holding the Left Accoubtable on Energy Prices

ARRA News Service - Conn Carroll, The Foundry, Morning Bell: The most important thing to remember as the debate over energy prices becomes a major issue in 2008 is that liberals want Americans to pay higher energy prices. That is why they sue to stop natural gas drilling in Wyoming, new refineries in South Dakota and coal power plants nationwide . The whole purpose of the Lieberman-Warner carbon capping bill was to increase the cost of energy to force Americans to use less of it. But now Americans are beginning to catch on to the left’s game, and they are not happy.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 67% of voters believe that offshore drilling should be allowed, and 64% believe lifting the ban on offshore drilling will lead to lower gas prices. A new Reuters poll found that 60% of Americans favor more domestic drilling and refinery construction to cool record prices. Facing an American public increasingly hostile to their energy policy, liberals in Congress are scrambling to find new arguments and policy proposals that can provide them with a patina of political cover. They include:

Lifting bans on domestic oil production will not lower energy prices. This liberal argument comes in two forms: 1) developing X oil well will not lower the price of gas and 2) it will take 10 years for the increased supply to lower prices. These arguments are especially pernicious because applied to each oil project today, they are technically true. However, if the test for developing any single oil field was whether it alone would lower the price of gas, then no oil field would ever be developed. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will not lower gas substantially by itself, but there is so much more oil currently banned from production. Also, as the Washington Post’s Steven Pearlstein points out: “In energy, as with all commodity markets, prices are set at the margin — based on the last transaction — and short-run demand doesn’t change much in response to price fluctuations. In such markets, even small changes in supply can have a big impact on price.” Finally, liberal complaints that lifting domestic drilling bans today would take years to increase supply are completely unpersuasive since liberals have been making the same argument in support of oil production bans for decades now.

Oil companies leave billions of acres of already leased land idle. This incredibly deceptive argument is new to the left’s anti-energy arsenal. It is true that, as the left claims, oil companies already have 33 billion acres of offshore leases they are not currently drilling on. But these lands are far from idle. Oil production takes time and requires years of exploration and permitting. Oil companies are already paying billions of dollars every year for land they are exploring, and under current law, if they do not begin drilling by the time their lease is up, they lose their right to drill. This does not mean there are not billions of barrels of more profitable oil in banned areas. The Department of the Interior estimates that their are 19.1 billion barrels of oil and 83.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the banned areas Outer Continental Shelf alone.

Speculators are to blame for the high price of gas. When all else fails, blame the moneychangers. This argument predates not only the environmental movement, but the country itself. As American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett points out, Milton Friedman dealt with this specious claim in 1953: “If speculators know that the price of something is going to go up a month from now, they buy today. If they are correct, they make money, and the price change is smoothed by the higher demand today. … If speculators are, as is popularly believed, brilliant tacticians who are making a killing, then their activities are stabilizing. Speculation is good.”

Already there are cracks in left’s unity on the drilling issue. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) has co-sponsored a bill with Sen. John Warner (R-VA) to lift the ban on natural gas production off the coast of Virginia. More importantly though, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is refusing to even allow the House to vote on lifting the offshore drilling ban. She must know many from her own party would vote for the measure. After all, they would only be responding to the fact that their constituents are eager to hold them accountable on the issue. [Source]

Thank you Reid & Pelosi for Doubling Gas Prices

ARRA News Service: William J. Murray, Chairman Religious Freedom Coalition: DEMS DEMAND HIGHER GAS PRICE - Democrats failed to pass the "cap and trade" legislation last week that would raise the price of gasoline by 56 cents per gallon. So this week they tried to pass a "windfall profit" tax on energy companies. The tax would of course be passed on to consumers, thus raising gasoline prices even more. Let us get honest: the Democrats want to price gasoline out of the reach of the average American. Most of the Democrats' money comes froDemocrats, gas price protest, gas prices, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Religious Freedom Coalition, William J. Murraym Hollywood elites and liberal billionaires who believe in the "green religion." They want all cars parked, except their own limos, to "protect the planet." The masses of people (That would be you and me) can then be forced to live in apartment clusters and use mass transportation. The "green religion" sees individual home ownership as destructive to the environment. It is also more difficult to control people who live in individual homes and have private transportation.

CONGRESS AND THE PRICE OF GAS - When the Democrats took control of the House and Senate in January of 2006 the average price of gas nationally was $2.33 per gallon. The current average per gallon is now $4.06. During less than two years in power Senator Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have helped drive up the cost of gas almost $2.00 a gallon. How? The traders and speculators know that with the Democrats in control there will be no drilling for new oil, no nuclear plants built and no gas refineries expanded. With out those options the speculators know they can push prices up. Thank you Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi for doubling the price of gas. See Also: Gas Price Protest