Unfortunately for the millions of Americans struggling to fill up their gas tanks every day, it appears that Democrats’ stubborn and irrational opposition to increased domestic energy exploration is not just a federal phenomenon. This viral reluctance on behalf of Democrats has now spread beyond the Beltway and the partisan confines of Congress and propagated to the local level as well.
So just how are local politicians acting against the will of the people?
A recent story by the Denver Post details a recent energy plan put forth by the federal Bureau of Land Management to open up 2.4 million acres in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to energy exploration. The plan calls specifically for the tapping of the region’s rich supplies of oil-shale and tar-sands.
According to BLM’s agency director Jim Caswell, there are 800 million barrels-worth of oil in the region—enough to meet the U.S. demand for imported oil for 110 years. BLM’s goal, he stated, is to:
“promote economically viable and environmentally sound production of oil shale.”
So what is stopping the BLM and the region from moving forward to ease the current energy crisis in America? Well, a number of things.
First of all, this proposal is actually a pre-emptive one. As it currently stands, the land in question couldn’t be leased for energy exploration in the first place due to the ongoing congressional moratorium on drilling. The BLM and the Bush Administration appear confident, however, that this will soon cease to be a barrier to the plan, as they—and many in government—do not predict a renewed moratorium come its October 1st expiration.
Nevertheless, despite the foreseen “go ahead” on drilling, Colorado politicians and environmental groups have let their voices be heard that they will not stand idly by and let Americans drill their own oil.
The two culprits topping the list of obstructionist Democrats are none other than Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and Senator Ken Salazar. As the Denver Post reports, Governor Ritter had the following to say regarding the push for more drilling in the region:
“With the Department of the Interior’s action today, the federal government has once again failed to act as a responsible partner for Colorado…The Bush administration is engaging in last-minute maneuvering in its waning days.”
The Governor’s colleague in the Senate, Mr. Salazar, called the BLM plan a “last-minute fire sale.” Mr. Ritter’s and Salazar’s complaints have been echoed by environmental groups as well, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service–although their opposition doesn’t seem to be nearly as fierce.
So why the staunch opposition from Colorado’s left? Besides the usual catalogue of criticisms—such as the distrust of the extraction technologies and the need of a power plant to power the extraction process—the liberal left’s refusal to budge on energy exploration does not make much sense.
Considering the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans support increased efforts to drill our own oil, Senator Salazar and Governor Ritter have willingly chosen to reject the will of the people. To them, it is “see no drilling, hear no drilling, speak no drilling”—especially on their turf.
Mr. Salazar ought to be particularly concerned. He’s already been lampooned on the internet for stating he wouldn’t support a bill to allow off-shore drilling—even if prices at the pump rose to $10 a gallon. Mr. Salazar’s repeated objections—as optimized in this YouTube video—are painful, to put it mildly.
Americans are starting to get fed up with their leaders’ apparently insulated view of the energy crisis.
It is time for all of our leaders—federal and local—to stop standing in the way of what the American people want and desperately need. High prices at the pump are not just a bothersome nuisance. They pose a serious threat to the economic viability of our nation, seeing as so many facets of the economy hinge on transportation and fuel costs. The national security concerns represent another troublesome component to the debate that has largely been ignored.
It’s time the American government, both on the local and national level, returned to being one of the people, by the people, and for the people. The viability of our nation depends on it.
