United States cannot drill its way out of oil crisis

Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming presided over a hearing on the future of oil. Markey said that the United States has an oil centered energy policy and has sacrificed fuel efficiency because of it. Ranking Member James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said that expanding oil reserves should be a top priority, and that the solution to America’s oil problem is increased production. Sensenbrenner, along with Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), explained that Congress keeps American off-shore oil untouchable; there are 67 million acres of land already permitted for drilling in the United States that are not being drilled on.

Guy Caruso, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), discussed the long-term outlook for oil in the United States and globally. The EIA projects that oil prices will continue to rise all the way to 2030. These higher oil prices will affect projected growth in global liquid fuels demand, growing liquid consumption from 85 million barrels per day (2006) to 98 million barrels per day (2030).

Adam Sieminski, the Chief Energy Economist of the Deutsche Bank, said that the United States is having supply problems but is not running out of resources. Sieminski explained that the country needs to figure out different resources to use instead of, or hand in hand with, oil, find out where these resources are, and determine how to get these resources.

Amy Myers Jaffe, an Energy Studies Fellow of the James A. Baker III Institute at Rice University, agreed with Sieminski and said that the United States needs to diversify its energy sources, especially when it comes to transportation. Athan Manuel, the Director of the Lands Protection Program at the Sierra Club, said that the United States needs to “reduce its dangerous dependence” on oil. He explained that even if the U.S. drilled everywhere possible, it would still not have enough oil to satisfy demand and lower gas prices.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) Doesn’t See the Light at the End of America’s Dark Economic Tunnel

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) interrogated Dr. Keith Hall, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, before a Joint Economic Committee hearing focused on reviewing the problems with the current American employment situation.

Cummings hammered away at Hall, backing his stance with a barrage of statistics about the job market. The Congressman also offered a harsh critique of the recently passed Bush Administration stimulus package and the “shocking” state of less-than-adequate infrastructure growth our nation is experiencing.

Dr. Hall acknowledged that while manufacturing and retail employment was down, he refused to say that America was entrenched in full economic recession. Hall’s opinion was that the American economy was “flat” but not yet experiencing the “broad losses” generally characterizing an economy dealing with full recession. Hall noted that health care employment continued to expand, proving that not all areas of the job market were struggling as much as others.

Regardless of Hall’s optimism that America still can hopefully escape recession, Cummings’ dissatisfaction painted a dark portrait of a weak economic future he cautioned our country will likely face, should our government not work to provide more jobs for needy Americans.