Economic Rhetoric: Heating up the energy independence debate (Part III)
Let’s talk about what isn’t cheap…petroleum.
Last night Alaskan governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin hit the nail on the head.
With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.
To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies … or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia … or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries … we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
We need to face the fact that the true cost of dependence on foreign petroleum sources is just that: DEPENDENCE.
America’s greatest vulnerability is her dependence on hostile nations for energy supplies that are vital to our economic stability. Barak Obama bemoans the fact that at the RNC
you didn’t hear a single word about the economy. Not once did people mention the hardships that people are going through.
You think times are tough now, just look back over the last few months. Crude oil futures selling at record high $145 per barrel…gasoline prices over $4.00 per gallon…transportation costs reaching record highs… food prices soaring: the list is endless.
And with the winter approaching and the resultant rise in energy consumption, people are fearful of what the economic future holds.
For good reason.
We know that we are dependent. And dependence creates uncertainty…because we know that we have given up control over what happens to us.
And we did it because it was “cheaper” at the time. But the sad thing is that there is absolutely no reason why we should be relying on governments that are hostile to us and our way of life.
Recent reports from the United States Geological Survey indicate that the US has vast supplies of petroleum sources that, due to recent breakthroughs in technology, could ease our dependence on hostile suppliers. From a previous post
Drilling offshore could provide American access to reserves estimated to hold over 18 billion barrels of oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. “And in America’s West, oil shale is estimated to between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil—more than three times the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia (www.energyfreedomday.org).
Which could buy us some time to develop the additional resources to become fully independent.
Critics will tell you that it will take ten years for us to derive any benefit from accessing these supplies. And that it will take ten years to build additional refining capacity.
But they said that ten years ago.
And we knew the resources were there then. We just did nothing to incentivize the petroleum industry to access them. Thank you, President Clinton, for increasing the corporate tax structure and keeping America dependent on her enemies.
But heating up the energy independence movement requires a commitment to reducing corporate taxes and incentivizing the energy industries to invest more money in energy research and development.
Let’s examine the McCain and Obama proposed corporate tax plans.
Both the LA Times and Wall Street Journal report that
McCain…has proposed a sharp reduction in corporate taxes. He would pare the two highest corporate tax brackets, 34% and 35%, down to 25%. The top bracket would be immediately eliminated, and the 34% bracket would be phased down to 25% between 2009 and 2014.
However, under the Obama plan, the highest corporate tax tier remains a high 35%, which retains the campaign’s commitment to increase taxes on corporate America. This plan restricts the ability and removes the incentives for American corporations to create new jobs when they are required to provide additional revenues to meet corporate tax obligations. It also decreases capital available to make necessary investments in research and development to produce new technology and resources.
The McCain-Palin ticket provides both the tax incentives and the practical experience managing the development and production of petroleum resources that will benefit American citizens strategically, by reducing dependence on foreign suppliers, and economically, by creating both jobs and energy resources that are homegrown.
No matter what the price, energy independence must be a priority in this election cycle. Because the cost of remaining dependent is more than most Americans could ever imagine.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Drill and have the Oil Companies share the profits with the citizens. The Oil Companies lease the land. The oil belongs to the citizens. Let the lease be a % of the profits. More $ into the coffers shouldn’t mean more spending. I keep hearing what the Presidential Candidates will do, but doesn’t Congress fit in here somewhere. It took about 5 minutes for them to decide that we should pay for the damage that Russia inflicted on Georgia. It is just too easy for them to be charitable with the money of others.
I also continually hear that President Bush has the lowest Public Confidence Rating in history. But, isn’t that of Congress lower? Maybe it’s the low opinion of Politicians in general. We do have a Democrat House and Senate. Not much positive going on there. Maybe we could use a few Managers from the Pubic Sector. No need to have an all lawyer Congress.
But, back to the drilling. Certainly we need to be independent of those that probably wish our downfall. We know that oil and gas are fuels that work. We can develop new technologies while we utilize the known technologies. Let’s use a little logic and drill.