To the Editor:
America is brimming with the natural resources needed to produce energy. America is the Saudi Arabia of coal, containing the largest coal reserves of any nation on Earth. America has coal reserves of 275 billion tons, 100 billion tons more than the second largest coal reserves in Russia. The U.S. is capable of meeting domestic demands for coal for the next 250 years at current rates of consumption. Coal produces a little less than half of all electricity generated in America.
As good as the news is on coal, the data on U.S. oil reserves is even better. American oil reserves, including shale oil recoverable from hydraulic fracturing, total an astounding 1.4 trillion barrels. That is enough oil to satisfy domestic needs for the next 250 years, at current rates of consumption, according to the Institute for Energy Research.
U.S. proven natural gas reserves stand at 28.8 trillion cubic feet, according to an Energy Information Administration report from November 2010. This does not include an estimated 2,543 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable reserves, according to the EIA. U.S. natural gas consumption, as of 2010, was 24 billion cubic feet annually, the last year for which EIA has data available. This means America has enough natural gas to last another 1,000 years, just on our proven reserves alone.
According to the Congressional Research Service, in a report to Congress in 2009, America's combined supply of recoverable natural gas, oil and coal exceeds every other nation on earth. It is greater than the supplies of Saudi Arabia, China and Canada combined.
Clearly, America has all the energy it needs for a prosperous future, right here within our own shores.
Why then does the conventional wisdom say that America is running out of energy? Why then is America transferring billions of dollars a year in wealth to buy foreign oil? Why then, are Americans being bombarded constantly with the idea that we must shift, right away, to an economy based on alternative fuel sources like solar and wind power?
America today is brimming with a wealth of energy resources which we are currently being prevented from using fully. Largely, this is driven by leftwing ideology such as radical environmentalism and the theory of man-made global warming. These ideologies have led to disastrous energy policies and ballooning trade deficits. In a word, these policies are making us go broke while we are surrounded by untapped wealth. America must reverse course immediately before we suffer from impending financial collapse.
Today, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, America’s energy policy is an insanity, wrapped in confusion, inside a lie.
First, the insanity: President Barack Obama recently blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This decision is emblematic of a much larger, consistent and destructive policy by the Obama administration to block North American oil and gas production. Besides 40,000 lost jobs, this will make the cost of oil and consumer goods higher by increasing transportation costs, representing a hidden tax that will be passed along to all Americans.
The Obama-run EPA is working over-time to shut down coal plants and deny permits for domestic oil drilling. According to industry groups such as the Edison Electric Institute, new EPA regulations will cost utilities $129 billion dollars and force them to close 20 percent of all our existing coal-fired electricity plants. According to the Institute for 21st Century Energy, 97 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf is under a federal moratorium on drilling. Despite a Federal Court ruling on Aug. 13, 2011 invalidating the Obama decision, the moratorium continues, flouting the Federal Court order. Federal onshore lands remain largely off limits to oil and gas drilling under Obama, with 83 percent of all federal lands being held off limits, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Obama EPA has also sought to regulate and block the use of fracking, based on spurious claims of ground water contamination. But fracking has proven to be very safe, and has been used since the 1940's with no confirmed cases of groundwater contamination. Nevertheless, the EPA is pursuing shutting down fracking operations in Wyoming.
Next, the confusion: Obama's foreign policy has imperiled America's ability to obtain overseas oil supplies. Even though Obama has committed billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to develop Brazil's offshore oil drilling industry [while shutting down America's in the Gulf of Mexico], Brazil has other ideas, just having inked a deal to sell their oil to the Chinese, as reported in the "Washington Times" on Jan. 19.
Meanwhile, a spurned Canadian government has also announced plans to sell their oil to China in the wake of the Keystone Pipeline cancellation, achieving a lose-lose outcome for America.
At the same time, Iran is preparing to close down oil shipments through the straits of Hormuz. This is due to the power vacuum created by Obama's extraordinarily weak foreign policy.
Finally, the lie of man-made global warming. Unlike Congressman Leonard Lance, I believe that the case for anthropomorphic global warming has not been made. Look at the recent Op Ed of sixteen eminent scientists in the Jan. 27 edition of the "Wall Street Journal." Their conclusion: “There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world’s economy.”
If anything, the email scandal known as “climate-gate” indicates that global warming proponents have falsified data.
Global Warming is the underlying rationale for Obama’s policy of replacing fossil fuels with solar and wind power. This is a dangerous delusion, given the bankruptcy scandal of companies like Solyndra. The truth of the matter is that America cannot get enough electricity from solar and wind power to matter.
The solution to our energy problem is obvious: simply take advantage of all of America’s vast resources. This common sense approach will help ensure America’s energy independence, security and prosperity, while restoring the American dream for future generations.
David Larsen
Congressional Candidate
District 7, New Jersey