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Why wont the Democratic congress let us dril for oil off the continental shelf?

A crucial energy vote took place today in the Appropriations Committee to address America's energy concerns. Rep John Peterson, (R-PA) attempted to amend a provision in the Fiscal Year 2009 Interior spending bill that has prevented American consumers from accessing America’s abundant deep-sea energy reserves for nearly 30 years. It should be noted that the federal Minerals Management Service estimates that there are 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas locked up along our nation’s outer continental shelf. The Peterson amendment would modify sections 104 and 105 of the Interior spending bill, specifically targeting abundant energy reserves residing beyond 50 miles from shore. But given the chance today to at least get the ball rolling on addressing our nation's energy concerns, Democrats stonewalled Peterson's amendment and it failed by a party line vote of 6-9. Every Democrat member of the committee voted against it: Norman Dicks (Wash.), James Moran (Va.), Maurice Hinchey (N.Y.), John Olver (Mass.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Ben Chandler (Ky.), Ed Pastor (Ariz.), Dave Obey (Wisc. – ex officio), and Alan Mollohan (W.Va.). There's no silver bullet to lowering the cost of gasoline and no one solution will affect change overnight. That's why it's even more important to pass and pursue methods like the ones the Democrats just voted down. It'd be one thing if the Democrats had an alternative plan of their own, but to just flat out reject a measure that could eventually help lower the cost of energy is just flat out insulting. Why did ALL of the Democrats on the committee block this? I thought they cared about the middle class?

Public Comments

1. Democrats care more about animals than people
2. Environmental lobby.
3. less oil, more misery. ps, more people will die and liberals think that's good for the environment
4. Dems are morons, but who cares??!!! President Obama will assuage my WHITE GUILT!
5. I absolutely agree with you...it may be years before we hit oil in Alaska...Hell...at least we'd hit it. We also need to drill our continental shelf.
6. It makes me wonder who our elected officials are working for. Not the American people, it would seem.
7. we can if Arnold swastika in California and jeb bush in Florida lets us.
8. That would be like giving a Crack Head a 10 year supply. Lets find a way to get off of oil instead makes more long term sense to me.
9. The answer to this is both complex and simple. They do not want us to develop our own oil reserves because they want to keep us dependent on foreign oil suppliers. While doing so, they know they can continue to get away with blaming the Republican administration because their liberal constituents can be relied on to believe the whole "Bush-Cheney-Halliburton-Texas Oil Buddies-Blood For Oil" propaganda program. It is beginning to wear thin. The Dems came to power in Congress over two years ago on the promise of lower gas prices, but then they show their true intentions with a vote like this. Hopefully, even their followers can see through this blatant charade. Or can they? Or do they even want to?
10. Why didn't the Republican congress do it? Seeing as they had control of the Congress and presidency for the first 6 years of Bush's terms.
11. On a similar question my answer is the same. Drilling for more oil will only bring more profits to the already rich (beyond belief ) oil Barron's . Gas prices will not go down because the game is one of power greed. Besides oil companies will cap off oil just to keep profits and demand high . They do it all the time. Please wake up.
12. Their one and only objective is to destroy all business, and destroy your investments in businesses, so the huge "baby boomers" voting block all loose the money they have slaved for all their lives have to fall back into a Democratic Party: "Please give us welfare so we can survive !" mode and vote Democratic. Then, when jobs disappear, EVERYONE will demand a Socialist /Marxist / Totalitarian Government to bail us out. Good Bye America.
13. EPA No congress can get past them now that they make the quasi-laws - Dem or Rep
14. This is a battle between the extreme far left socialist environmentalist and capitalism. The Democrat party has moved so far to the left that they want to see America suffer so they can then rescue us by taxing everything that moves or look like it could. Bill Clinton vetoed the last bill that would have allowed us to drill for our own resources. Even when the Republican had the majority in the Senate they did not have the "Super Majority" of 60 votes to pass any bills that would have allowed us to become independent of foreign oil. The Democrats keep saying we need to get off our dependency on foreign oil and the only way to do that is domestic oil, but they won't let us do that either. In 2006 when the Democrats took over Congress, Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats had a plan to reduce the cost of gas. Two weeks ago the Republicans asked her to revel her plan. She has not responded. http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=89922
15. one of the reporters on Fox News today got bi*chslapped big time by a Democatic Senator when he asked the same question, and the reporter still wasnt listening, he was just spouting off the same lame chants~!!! the Senator asked "why the Republicans when they had control did not make this an issue or do something about it"~??!!! then he told the reporter that the oil companies have 680 million acres of land that has been authorized with leases and permits to drill for oil right hear in the United States but they arent using them~!!! the reporter got all flustered and was sputtering jibberish and went to a commercial~!!! when you guys are thrown facts in your face you come back with the same ol lame chants~!!!
16. Because even the GOP realizes that oil companies are gouging consumers. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/24/gas.investigation/index.html?iref=newssearch