Day 7: Open This House
Nancy Pelosi has made it clear that she will never willingly allow an up-or-down vote in the House on increased oil drilling—despite the fact that it could save millions of Americans from sky-high gasoline prices…
…because she knows that it would pass.
Speaker Pelosi sarcastically laid down the law recently on This Week with George Stephanopoulos:
“They’ll have to use their imagination as to how they can get a vote and then they may get a vote.”
And now that she’s shut down the House for its five-week vacation, she has, as far as she is concerned, ensured that there will be no action by Congress until September—when the frolicking salons return from their fun and games on the taxpayers’ tab. House Republicans, led by Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), have stayed at the Capitol, courageously refusing to leave their posts as they continue to push for a critical vote on energy independence.
Weeks before Madam Despot turned out the lights, however, Republicans had a better idea. They have already come up with a plan of how to get around the Speaker’s anticipated blocking of pro-energy bills: Get like-minded Democrats in the House to sign discharge petitions for seven different energy bills.
And now that’s coming in handy, because in an underhanded attempt at subterfuge, Ms. Pelosi has reportedly given Democrats in vulnerable House districts permission to publicly support more oil drilling. It’s “part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.”
In other words, it’s now okay for Blue Dogs and other vulnerable Democrats to come out in favor of increased oil drilling—on the campaign trail, that is.
On the floor of the House of Representatives, on the other hand… well, that’s another matter entirely.
And so, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is turning up the heat and calling upon Democrats to sign the seven discharge petitions, and to support the “American Energy Act,”—the comprehensive Republican proposal to increase energy production on all fronts. According to GOP.gov, the bill seeks:
“To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:
• “Open our deep water ocean resources, which will provide an additional three million barrels of oil per day, as well as 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as proposed in H.R. 6108 by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC). Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) has also worked tirelessly on this issue.
• “Open the Arctic coastal plain, which will provide an additional one million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6107 by Rep. Don Young (R-AK);
• “Allow development of our nation’s shale oil resources, which could provide an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6138 by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI); and
• “Increase the supply of gas at the pump by cutting bureaucratic red tape that essentially blocks construction of new refineries, as proposed in H.R. 6139 by Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Joe Pitts (R-PA).”
“To improve energy conservation and efficiency, the legislation will:
• “Provide tax incentives for businesses and families that purchase more fuel efficient vehicles, as proposed in H.R. 1618 and H.R. 765 by Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Jerry Weller (R-IL);
• “Provide a monetary prize for developing the first economically feasible, super-fuel-efficient vehicle reaching 100 miles-per-gallon, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT); and
• “Provide tax incentives for businesses and homeowners who improve their energy efficiency, as proposed in H.R. 5984 by Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Phil English (R-PA), and Zach Wamp (R-TN), and in H.R. 778 by Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL).
“To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:
• “Spur the development of alternative fuels through government contracting by repealing the “Section 526” prohibition on government purchasing of alternative energy and promoting coal-to-liquids technology, as proposed in H.R. 5656 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), in H.R. 6384 by Rob Bishop (R-UT), and in H.R. 2208 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL);
• “Establish a renewable energy trust fund using revenues generated by exploration in the deep ocean and on the Arctic coastal plain, as proposed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA);
• “Permanently extend the tax credit for alternative energy production, including wind, solar and hydrogen, as proposed in H.R. 2652 by Rep. Phil English (R-PA) and in H.R. 5984 by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD); and
• “Eliminate barriers to the expansion of emission-free nuclear power production, as proposed in H.R. 6384 by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT).”
In short, the proposal dramatically increases oil drilling domestically and cuts the red tape to build new gasoline refineries, construct new nuclear power plants, promote coal-to-liquid technologies, and allow exploration for oil shale.
This “all of the above” proposal may have some flaws—if somebody actually invented an engine that got 100 mpg, he wouldn’t need a taxpayer “prize” from the government, because he’d already be a billionaire. But the fact is that this is the best, most comprehensive proposal to come out of Congress to increase American energy production, perhaps ever.
And that is why vulnerable Democrats will need to put their money where their mouth is: If they want to go out on the campaign trail touting their pro-drilling credentials, they are either going to have to sight the discharge petitions—or explain to voters why they didn’t.
Nancy Pelosi may never willingly allow an up-or-down vote on increased oil drilling. And she may not need to. Members of her own party can help Republicans get it to the floor. And in an election year where voters will pay at least $4 a gallon to drive to the polls, it will likely pass.
ALG CTA: When the White House declined to call Congress into a special session to address the energy crisis, it was because the President wanted members of Congress to go home to their districts so that they could hear first hand from their constituents how upset they are over high gasoline costs. As such, ALG News is urging journalists nationwide to call upon their Representatives to cut short their vacations and get back to the business of tackling the energy crisis—in the form of the “American Energy Act.”
