Republicans Pandering To Big Oil with Motion to Discharge

H.R. 3089, The No More Excuses Energy Act of 2007 authored by Rep. Mac Thornberry, is a Trojan horse offering the minimal amount of pleasantries to appear environmentally friendly, yet is green in terms of the color it will turn the pockets of Big Oil.

Rep. Thornberry’s bill has only two progressive offerings: a 10 year extension of the tax credit for producing electricity from wind, and a call for tax credits for carbon dioxide tertiary injectant processes. Other than providing further tax credits for producing electricity from nuclear energy and natural gas, H.R. 3089 is really nothing more than an attempt to expand domestic drilling for the benefit of big oil companies scrambling for production to take advantage of a market that continues to climb.

The Republicans’ solution to our oil crisis is to expand domestic drilling. Putting the numerous environmental issues aside, the facts do not support this course of action as a viable solution to our energy problems.

Today, T. Boone Pickens testified before the Senate Energy & Natural Resource Committee that the US reached peak oil in 1970 with about 10 million barrels of production a day. Presently the US produces around 5 million barrels a day. Pickens testified that an increase in domestic production will not be significant enough to move global oil prices. In his estimate we have reached peak oil globally and demand will continue to increase in developing parts of the world. Pickens claimed our tremendous reliance on oil has caught the US in a trap. This is a trap that has the US sending $700 billion a year to OPEC. Pickens says this simply cannot be sustained. The US is closely approaching a national emergency.

In light of this looming national crisis, Republicans’ solution is to file a motion to discharge H.R. 3089 in an attempt to force a vote that will give Big Oil a big pay day instead of addressing the fundamentals of the trap we find ourselves in. We cannot drill our way out of this hole.