Sarah Palin: Dollar’s Troubles Show Need for Energy Independence
Two days ago the British newspaper The Independent published a rather dubious report by Robert Fisk claiming that oil-producing Arab states along with China, Russia, Japan and France were conspiring on a plan to dump the dollar for oil trading, a move which would seriously weaken our currency and influence abroad.
The Arab states named in the report have issued denials… there may still be a grain of truth in the report though as both Russia and China have been very vocal in their calls to end the Dollar’s reign in international trading:
Leaving aside the viability of the unified GCC currency – Oman and the Emirates have made clear they don’t want to play – the story has a ring of truth about it.
Russia and China have both been vocal in their call to end the hegemony of the greenback in international trade. The single GCC currency, if and when it happens, would be more likely to use a currency basket than a direct dollar peg. With the possibility of intervention now back in its arsenal Japan will clearly do what it feels necessary to protect its deflationary economy from an over-strong currency. France, of course, would take any opportunity to give Washington one in the eye.
In that light it is no surprise that the dollar has taken a bit of a beating since the news broke. It has lost one euro cent and half a yen overnight, adding to the losses it had already made on Monday in the absence of any helpful comment from G7.
Regardless The Independent’s report should server as a stark reminder to our elected leaders of need for sound fiscal policy, a strong stable dollar and real energy independence.
Sarah Palin makes the case on her Facebook page:
All of this is a result of our out-of-control debt. This is why we need to rein in spending, and this is also why we need energy independence. A weakened dollar means higher commodity prices. This will make it more difficult to pay our bills – including the bill to import oil.
In his book Architects of Ruin, Peter Schweizer points out that the Obama administration is focusing primarily on “green energy,” while ignoring our need to develop our domestic conventional energy resources.[5] We’re ignoring the looming crisis caused by our dependence on foreign oil. Because we’re dependent on foreign nations for our oil, we’re also at their mercy if they decide to dump the dollar as their trade currency. We can’t allow ourselves to be so vulnerable to the whims of foreign nations. That’s why we must develop our own domestic supplies of oil and gas.
Though the chant of “Drill, baby, drill” was much derided, it expressed the need to confront this issue head-on before it reaches a crisis point.
Bottom line: let’s stop digging ourselves into debt and start drilling for energy independence.
Gas prices have dropped considerably since the last oil shock made energy independence a front burner issue in the minds of most Americans… The coming debate on Cap and Trade may help bring the issue of energy independence back to the forefront but I suspect it’ll be lost in amongst the debates on the new taxes, costs, and mandates Cap and Trade create.
Whether we like it or not our economy is powered by oil and natural gas… and there is simple no reason not to tap into a significant domestic reserves of both.
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WSJ: U.S. Biofuel Boom Running on Empty
There’s must read article on the biofuels industry in today’s Wall Street Journal… The full article is subscriber content but here’s the extract:
The biofuels revolution that promised to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil is fizzling out.
Two-thirds of U.S. biodiesel production capacity now sits unused, reports the National Biodiesel Board. Biodiesel, a crucial part of government efforts to develop alternative fuels for trucks and factories, has been hit hard by the recession and falling oil prices.
The global credit crisis, a glut of capacity, lower oil prices and delayed government rules changes on fuel mixes are threatening the viability of two of the three main biofuel sectors — biodiesel and next-generation fuels derived from feedstocks other than food. Ethanol, the largest biofuel sector, is also in financial trouble, although longstanding government support will likely protect it.
That the biofuels industry is struggling shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Biofuels like biodiesel and Ehtanol may one day prove to be viable alternative sources but we’re not there yet. Whether we like it or not the world runs on fossil fuels and will continue to do so for foreseeable future… No amount of wishful thinking or government subsidies is going to change that.
We have significant oil, natural gas and coal reserves in this country, not exploiting them strikes me as supremely foolish.
Pres. Obama Backs Offshore Drilling… Just Not in U.S. Waters
I was going to comment on this Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday but I didn’t get to it… In short the Obama Administration has finally embraced offshore oil drill, unfortunately it’s not in the U.S.:
You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil.
The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil’s Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a “preliminary commitment” letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.
But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
I’m going to defer to Sarah Palin here because rather than offer substantive commentary I’m tempted to say something inflammatory like… if this doesn’t take the cake for asinine, moronic moves by an American administration I don’t know what does… Oops, anyway here’s Gov. Palin:
For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money for federal coffers that would potentially off-set the need for higher income taxes, reduce the federal debt and deficits, or even help fund a trillion dollar health care plan if one were so inclined to support such a plan.
So why is it that during these tough times, when we have great needs at home, the Obama White House is prepared to send more than two billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to Brazil so that the nation’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, can drill off shore and create jobs developing its own resources? That’s all Americans want; but such rational energy development has been continually thwarted by rabid environmentalists, faceless bureaucrats and a seemingly endless parade of lawsuits aimed at shutting down new energy projects.
Gov. Palin is right, the simple reality is whether we like it or not oil and natural gas fuel our economy… While it’s good to see the Obama Administration supporting offshore oil drilling, their efforts would be better directed at encouraging the tapping of domestic resources and creating jobs for Americans rather than $2 billion of taxpayer money overseas.
Speed Bump: Senate Democrats Delay Action on Obama’s Healthcare & Climate Initiatives
Democrats in the House and Senate handed President Barack Obama a double dose of bad news yesterday when they moved to delay on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said they would put off work on the climate change bill until September while in House Blue Dog Democrats released a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saying that the House should “pare back some of the cost-drivers to produce a bill that we can afford.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama suffered a double-barreled setback in Congress on Thursday when members of his own party moved to apply the brakes on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change.
Obama has demanded urgent and simultaneous attention to overhauling healthcare and addressing climate change, saying both were necessary to boost the U.S. economy, which is in a deep recession.
He has demanded that Congress send him a bill by October to cut healthcare costs and provide medical coverage to most of the 46 million uninsured Americans. The president wants climate change legislation before year’s end.
While Obama was in Italy on Thursday encouraging world leaders to intensify the fight against global warming, legislation to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases suffered a delay in the Senate.
The leading Senate committee responsible for developing the climate change legislation put off for at least a month work on a bill, leaving less time for Congress to fulfill Obama’s desire to enact a law this year.
“We’ll do it as soon as we get back” in September from a month-long break, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, announced.
Earlier this week, Boxer said her committee had planned to complete work on a bill by early August.
Call me crazy but I think the Obama agenda is probably dead… Given the Presidents falling approval ratings, the still sputtering economy and rising unemployment I think it’s very likely the December will roll around and there will be no passed and signed climate change bill, no healthcare bill and no financial reform bill.
Simply put Democrats aren’t going to want to head into an election year as the party who saddled Americans with billions in new taxes and sputtering economy.
Related
- Obama agenda stalls on Capitol Hill – Washington Times
- Cap-and-Trade or Duck-and-Hide? – Jennifer Rubin, Commentary Magazine
- Voters Trust GOP More than Democrats on Eight of 10 Key Issues – Rasmussen Reports
- Get Ready for 14 Percent Unemployment – Real Clear Markets
- Bid to clip Fed’s wings gains support in Congress – Reuters
John Larson: Government Should Compel Consumers to Use Alternative Energy
From CNSNews.com:
Government policy should be crafted to raise the price of carbon-emitting energy sources so consumers are compelled to choose alternative energy, House Democratic Conference Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) told CNSNews.com on Thursday.
Larson agreed that such a policy would likely result in higher electricity prices for consumers but said this is needed to protect the environment from the possible “catastrophic results” of not implementing a pro-green energy policy.
Some Republicans who spoke with CNSNews.com at the Capitol agreed that electricity prices would go up, and they dismissed President Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade plan as little more than a large tax on energy producers, the cost of which is passed onto consumers.
With cap and trade, the amount of carbon an energy company can emit is capped. If it exceeds that limit, the company can purchase credits (“trade”) that would go towards investment in green or alternative energy firms.
“I think the government should serve as an impetus to do so, because as I said at the outset, not doing anything — the catastrophic results that can come from that – are what drives this issue,” Larson told CNSNews.com when asked if boosting electricity prices through government policy to drive consumers to green energy was a good idea.
I don’t have any specific comments beyond… Idiot, the idea of government micromanaging peoples lives flies directly in the face of this country’s founding priciples. Whatever happend to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?
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Related
- Man’s Contribution to Global Warming – Heritage Foundation
Audio: Barack Obama’s Cap & Trade Policy is So Aggressive It Will Bankrupt Coal Fired Plants
If Barack Obama’s remarks wealth redistribution didn’t scare you his remarks on energy policy should…
In a January 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle Sen. Obama said that he would impose a Cap & Trade system aggressive that it would bankrupt anyone trying to build a new coal powered plant.
This really just the tip of the iceberg… Ed Morrissey much more on Barack Obama’s energy policies at Hot Air. See:
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