House votes to end Obama Moratorium on Offshore Drilling
By JR Hoeft | Thursday, May 12th, 2011 | PolicyIn what is hopefully not a symbolic vote, the House of Representatives voted 243-179 to pass H.R. 1231, the “Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act.” Voting with the Republican majority were 21 Democrats.
The goal of the bill is to expand American energy production by requiring the Obama Administration to permit drilling over the course of the next five year.
According to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the current moratorium on offshore development means that an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil is being withheld from our domestic energy supply and that this legislation will open up new areas to energy development and requires the 2012-2017 offshore leasing plan to include areas with the most resources.
“While the Obama Administration continues to put up roadblocks to domestic energy production, House Republicans have passed three bills that maximize energy production, help bring down gas prices and will get people back to work,” said Cantor. “This legislation ensures that the Obama Administration can no longer withhold valuable energy resources necessary to increase American energy production here at home.”
Also supporting the bill was Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA02).
“We are paying high prices at the pump because of the basic laws of supply and demand,” Rigell said. “These bills will affect one side of that equation and move us toward energy independence. This is the start of a solution to a problem we hear about every single year.”
Rigell argues that the de facto moratorium imposed by the Obama administration is stifling job creation and cites the National Center for Policy Analysis as costing the United States $4.7 million a day in lost revenues.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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4 Responses to "House votes to end Obama Moratorium on Offshore Drilling"
“We are paying high prices at the pump because of the basic laws of supply and demand,” Rigell said.
Cretin.
You know it might not be a symbolic vote if the House were to end the two billion in tax incentives for the oil companies and put that two billion on the national debt. They aren’t likely to end the bailout for oil company political donors, so the vote to end Obama’s Moratorium is symbolic and meaningless.
Somebody should ask Canter and Rigell “why the oil companies would provide cheap prices on any oil they find, drill and refine off the cost of Virginia? After all, Rigell says it is supply and demand and that isn’t going to change even if they fould oil in Virginia Beach!
Rigell is playing politics with oil drilling and thinks we are too dumb to see through the smoke & mirrors. There isn’t going to be cheap oil no matter where it is found as Capitalism is about making money. Virginia oil isn’t going to be cheaper ten years from now than oil from the Middle East or any where else.
Well, Jay……any reason you cite for the high cost of gas is a function of supply vs. Demand, is it not?
Limited resource…..find enough new sources of that resource and prices will go down in a free market regardless of the wishes of the dealers. Supply and demand! (Not enough in this case to make a huge difference, but the right direction)
A devalued dollar? What determines the value of the dollar? The supply of currency against demand for it.
It should be noted that oil is a global market commodity. There will be none of this energy independence stuff unless we seriously cut back useage. Domestic oil will continue to be sold to other countries if it can bring in more money than domestic sales. Unless we cut useage, drill more, and nationalize it……..no “independence”.
However, Obama is spurring Brazil and I think Columbia to produce oil. That adds to global supply…….OPEC or not. That could end up being a good thing.
Speculators? Not the biggest factor, but a factor that does drive short term prices. When new oil is produced, speculators will back off and recalibrate. The fact that we go from no further production to ANY new production can chase speculators away for a time. Speculation and the effect however small, are a function of Supply/demand.
Less than efficient cars going to more efficient? Well…..that probably increases price if the increased efficiency makes it more affordable to buy more expensive gas, unless the effect reduces consumption so much that there is too much supply. It is about what the market will bear. Supply & demand.
Strategic Oil reserve purchases? Bush used the purchase of oil to bolster gas prices. Buying or selling reverses will affect supply/demand as well as steer speculators.
There are holes in what Rigell said, but everything is tied to supply vs. demand even when the playing field is manipulated to be unlevel and corrupt.
@ William: Don’t think of it as cheap gas. We can take a page from our president.
“Gas price increases – reversed or prevented”
If Pres. Obama can force you to prove a negative on “jobs created or saved”, why not?
And Britt is another stooge. Tons of people that have nothing to do with oil have been speculating on oil stock. Supply and demand are barely half the equation. Price changes of 20 dollars in a single day are evidence enough.
Just look at 2008. Prices for gasoline dropped like a rock until it hit its REAL price range below 2 dollars. Then in a few months it goes back up a dollar, then after the next goes up nearly another dollar.
Global oil supplies are not quite that volatile. The market is being treated like Wallstreet.
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