Voice: Frank Pena, Birch Run
Economic despair reigns in America, as stagnation and mounting debt make our future look hopeless. All that is necessary is a political decision to reverse our energy policy and stimulate domestic production of oil.
The United States is, for the second time in less than three years, being reminded of its absurd dependence on foreign sources of energy, most notably oil.
The upheavals in the Middle East have driven up the cost of a barrel of oil into triple digits, as it was in 2008. The increasing demands of countries such as China and India, and the deliberate devaluation of the dollar by the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration, are pushing up oil and gas prices.
Yet the United States is sitting on the world’s largest untapped oil reserve — a natural resource that would keep over $400 billion from being sent overseas and could create untold millions of new jobs, putting the country on sound financial footing.
The untapped reserves are estimated up to 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times the reserves held by OPEC countries. That is sufficient to meet 300 years of demand (at today’s levels) for autos, aircraft, and heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.
The U.S. could become the single largest exporter of oil and oil-related products in the world, potentially eliminating the trade deficit, increasing the national standard of living and making a massive dent in the national debt.
Despite the protestations of President Obama and environmentalists, the world is not running out of oil. Their foolish ideas of windmills and solar will never produce energy sufficient to support the U.S.’ growing needs.
The United States must begin to open the areas for exploration and permit the construction of refineries and pipelines through every state, creating more jobs.
It is beyond absurd that a country sitting on so much natural wealth refuses to exploit it for the benefit of its citizens. It almost appears to be deliberate by President Obama and the Democratic Party.