Republicans In Energy “Gang Of Ten” Throwing Democrats A Life Preserver On Oil Issue
This is so stupid:
It’s taken time, but Sen. McCain and his party have finally found—in energy—an issue that’s working for them. Riding voter discontent over high gas prices, the GOP has made antidrilling Democrats this summer’s headlines. . . .
Still, it was probably too much to assume every Republican would work out that their side was winning this issue. And so, last Friday, in stumbled Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson—alongside five Senate Democrats. This “Gang of 10” announced a “sweeping” and “bipartisan” energy plan to break Washington’s energy “stalemate.” What they did was throw every vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver. . . .
That’s because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast—putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska’s oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.
The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil companies! The Sierra Club couldn’t have penned it better.
So the plan from this “gang of ten” is to create massive new subsidies for the biofuel industry (which will do nothing to help fuel prices), funded by massive new taxes on the oil industry (something that’s only going to exacerbate the gas price problem) and in exchange Americans would get only marginal progress toward opening up more land for domestic oil drilling.
Sound like a good deal? It’s not. So why are these Republicans on board with it? Lindsey Graham is from South Carolina. John Thune is from South Dakota. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson are from Georgia. Bob Corker is from Tennessee. Every one of these states has a significant base of agriculture that’s tied in with the ethanol industry. What these guys are doing is putting what’s best for the ethanol lobbyists, who are no doubt regular visitors to their offices, over what is best for the country.












