Interior Secretary Under Fire Over Obama Energy Policy

By Adrianna McGinley

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar faced tough scrutiny by members of the House Natural Resources Committee regarding the Obama administration’s energy policy.

Republican members of the committee cited the lengthy process oil companies go through to lease and develop land in order be able to produce oil, saying the record high levels of domestic oil production could not possibly be the result of Obama administration policy.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) criticized Salazar and the entire Obama administration for “taking credit” for current oil production success.

“That just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Labrador said. “If it takes more than two or three years to get from lease to production and we have the highest production right now, isn’t it true…that this is based on actions from the previous administration?”

Members of the committee also blasted the administration for proposing more federal regulation of the hydrofracking method of energy production and for delaying a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.

“What we’re now watching is the administration systematically shutting off our future oil development,” said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.).

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) defended hydrofracking saying it is a method that has worked safely for decades and concerns are unfounded. The Congressman blasted Salazar for not being able to answer “basic” technical questions regarding hydrofracking concerns.

“These are very simple questions…If the very top level doesn’t know the very basics of the technology, why is it that you somehow feel you can insinuate yourself into the process.”

Committee Ranking Member Edward Markey (D-Mass.) defended the administration, saying rather it is Republicans who are holding back domestic energy production.

“It is the Republican Majority that is protecting the billions of dollars we could retrieve from making oil and gas companies pay their fair share for drilling on our public lands. It is the Republican Majority that has opposed Democratic efforts to close free drilling loopholes, and end unnecessary tax breaks…Congressional Republicans are making our debt negotiations look worse than the NBA lockout.”

After several heated confrontations with members of the committee, the Interior Secretary told reporters that he stands by his testimony and the administration.

“From day one the president and I have worked on developing a comprehensive energy program for the nation. It’s a broad portfolio and we’re making significant progress on all fronts,” Salazar said. “With respect to the heated exchange…it’s the political season and I understand it and a member of Congress wants to score a point back home and so it’s to be expected.”

Boehner Tees Off On Obama Over Oil Spill, Spending

By Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) today blasted President Barack Obama's address to the nation Tuesday night and his administration's handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now," said the President during his prime-time address from the Oval Office.

Boehner harshly criticized the President's motives; "I don't think President Obama should exploit this crisis by imposing a national energy tax."

"Using this tragedy in the Gulf Coast as an excuse to have a national energy tax...is not the right thing for the country and we should put a stop to it," he added.

The top House Republican continued, showing his strong opposition to the administration's recent health care reform and economic stimulus legislation.

"Under the President's watch, Democrats have become 'spend-aholics' who can't restrain themselves...Democrats have lost every shred of credibility when it comes to managing taxpayer dollars."

According to Boehner, the President has "so far overreached, and so fast, that he's lost the confidence of the American people."

STRONG Plan Could Reduce Oil Dependency By Millions Of Gallons Per Day

by Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News Service

Director of New America Foundation's Energy Initiative Lisa Margonelli recently released a new energy initiative that aims to "reduce US oil demand by more than 3 million barrels a day by 2020."

Secure Transportation Reducing Oil Needs Gradually, or STRONG America 2020, hopes to reduce American dependence on oil without new technology, vehicles or fuels.

"[STRONG America 2020] doesn't use any alternative fuels or alternative vehicles ... we have some perverse incentives built into our system for using energy and for purchasing energy in the US, and it addresses those, and it also encourages energy efficiency," Margonelli told Talk Radio News in an interview.

Margonelli said that Americans do not pay the true price of gasoline at the pumps, but through taxing, which goes toward oil subsidies, military costs of maintaining shipping lanes and health care.

The energy expert told Talk Radio News that she supports the controversial "behavior change legislation."

"It would give people a clear reason and a sense that they can plan and be empowered to actually do something about the amount of gasoline and oil that we use as a country," said Margonelli. She explained that the STRONG tax, which will add three cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline at the pump each year, reaching 30 cents by 2020, could save 450 million barrels of oil each year and raise $5.5 billion for improving the transportation sector.

Margonelli hopes for the improvement of existing transportation options for optimum efficiency, and for increased incentives for carpooling and ride-sharing. She believes that reassigning oil subsidies into secured loans will directly benefit many Americans.

"What we need to do is to move $5 to $10 billion [from oil subsidies] away from the oil industry and make those subsidies into secured loans or loans to middle-income Americans to get more efficient cars," Margonelli said.

According to the New America Foundation executive, the eventual saving of 3 million barrels of oil a day will liberate a great deal of American capital, which can then be recycled into the economy.

House Determined To Create Jobs, Says Top Democrat

By Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News Service

On the same day President Barack Obama traveled to Buffalo to talk about the need for increased job creation, his top lieutenant in the House said her chamber is intensely devoted to doing just that.

During her weekly press briefing Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lauded last month's report by the Labor Department, showing that nearly 300,000 new jobs were added to the economy, primarily in the private sector, and said reforming Wall Street will lead to even more job growth.

"Never again will recklessness on Wall Street cause joblessness on Main Street," said Pelosi alluding to a tough financial regulatory reform bill being debated in the Senate. "[Democrats] are on the side of the middle class [and] the Republicans are on the side of Wall Street," she added.

With the House having passed its energy bill late last year, the Speaker said she was "optimistic" about the odds of a similar bill in the Senate passing. Pelosi praised the legislation for its measures to create jobs as well as lower the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Actress Sigourney Weaver Warns Of Increasing Ocean Acidification

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Actress Sigourney Weaver said without climate legislation, the U.S. risks allowing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to have monumental negative impacts on ocean acidification.

Weaver and others testified Thursday before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee.

“The oceans are 30 percent more acidic than they were during pre-industrial times and if we continue burning fossil fuels as we are now, we will double the ocean’s acidity by the end of the century,” said Weaver.

According to Dr. James Barry, Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), several studies and workshops have concluded that during the past decade there has been a massive influx of CO2 emissions into our oceans. Such pollution, he said, poses a threat to the livelihood of the ecosystem.

“[CO2 emissions] could have very significant effects on marine ecosystems,” said Barry. “Eventually, over 85 percent of all emissions will reside in the ocean and this CO2 will mix throughout the depths of the ocean.”

Weaver challenged lawmakers to put aside their differences and enact climate and energy legislation that will push America towards a clean energy economy.

“Lawmakers must help ocean ecosystems adapt to the changes brought about by a warming climate and acidifying oceans. To make the oceans more resilient to these changes, we need to do a better job of keeping the oceans healthy.”