Energy policy: Is there any right answer?

Speaking on the issue of offshore drilling, Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said, “You have to maximize oil production in the United States.”

In a discussion at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), Gingrich advocated for clean coal technology calling the use of this technology “green conservatism.” Gingrich cautioned that if the United States tries other forms of technology too quickly, there is the possibility that the U.S. “doomed [itself] to no energy.” He called the costs of changing to other forms of energy such as wind, solar, and natural gas “a breathtaking investment.”

Gingrich was adamant that the U.S. does not have an energy crisis, but a “policy crisis.” He claimed that with its total range of resources, the U.S. “has the capacity to have ample energy at a reasonable price.”

Robert Hahn, Senior Fellow at AEI, said that offshore oil drilling would make little or no impact of domestic gas prices “anytime soon.” Hahn advised President -elect Obama to “limit his focus” on the issue of energy to potential investments and climate change. Hahn said that the potential jobs that would be opened by energy reform should not factor into Obama’s decisions. Hahn also cautioned that Obama not allow energy to turn “into complete political pork barrel” with potential wasted spending.

Irwin Stelzer, Senior Fellow and Director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Economic Policy, said the U.S. cannot run solely on domestic oil because it is “too few and too costly.” However, he said that renewable energy cannot replace fossil fuels because it is too difficult and expensive to attain. He put down the idea of nuclear energy because he believes Congress will not solve the issue of nuclear waste disposal. Stelzer was not in favor or natural gas because he doesn’t believe it can replace liquid energy. He said that the U.S. could practice conservation if U.S. citizens want to live “as the Japanese.” Stelzer said that the U.S. will probably remain “heavily dependent” on other countries for oil.

Today at Talk Radio News Service

Pentagon Correspondent S. Dawn Casey will be attending a live briefing from Iraq with Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multinational Division-North and the 1st Armored Division, to provide an update on ongoing security operations.

The Washington bureau will be covering a discussion on "Oil Drilling and U.S. Energy Policy at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) with Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

Christopher Horner: the fallacy that is global warming

“Catastrophe sells,” said Christopher Horner, author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism).” At a Heritage Foundation event, Horner said the recent wave of “global warming enthusiasts” are encouraged by “a multi-million dollar global warming industry adding new urgency to the ritual shriek of ‘we must act now,’ as they scramble to impose a costly regime that imposes mandates, subsidies and energy taxes both direct and regulatory to pay for them.”

Horner said, “90 percent of our official United States government measuring stations don’t meet the requirements for citing. For example, why are so many of our official thermometers now on asphalt parking lots, black tar roofs, airport tarmacs and placed directly above exhaust fans and even in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, over a barbeque grill?”

Horner said scientists who come out against the idea of global warming are refused their voice, and that global warming is appealing to public figures like Newt Gingrich because it offers them the “ultimate intellectual challenge.”

“After all, there is a reason the media don’t report on the global warming industries; admitted objectives, extreme statements, and their tactics,” said Horner. “How can we predict the weather ten decades away if we can’t predict 10 days from now?” As a result, Horner believes, “environmental alarmists have become like car alarms that no one listens to anymore.”

Gingrich shows support for Republicans' energy protest

Continuing their protest, the House Republicans held a press conference in Statuary Hall in the Capitol with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Congressman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) said Congress must come back from its five-week vacation and produce an up-or-down vote on the Republicans' American Energy Act. He said the Republicans will continue their protest on the House floor without microphones and lights until they get their vote.

Gingrich said there are pro-energy Democrats as well as pro-Energy Republicans. He said that although Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will block any vote, he is confident that the bill will achieve a majority when Congress returns in early September. Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said Democrats and Republicans can come together to make lasting pro-energy changes, but Speaker Pelosi must call back Congress, or at the very least schedule a vote on the first day Congress returns. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) called on Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to speak to Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) about bringing back the Senate as well, as the push for pro-energy legislation should be a two-party effort.

After the press conference, at 11:00 a.m., Putnam and Foxx, among other representatives, retreated to the House floor to continue their protest. Representatives spoke in front of more than four hundred tourists in the chamber. Putnam said that every day the House is out of session is another day the U.S. is dependent on foreign energy. The crowds in the chamber gave a massive standing ovation when Foxx declared the United States "the greatest country in the world."