On this day in 1805, the House of Representatives created the Committee on Public Lands, to help Congress manage the Louisiana Purchase Territory, newly acquired by President Thomas Jefferson from Napoleonic France. The acquisition, which stretched northwestward from New Orleans to Montana, covered more than 828,000 square miles. A senior member of Congress, Rep. William Findley of Pennsylvania, proposed creating “a committee respecting the lands of the United States.” The panel weighed “all such petitions, and matters or things, respecting the lands of the United States, as shall be presented... Read More »
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) All across this nation, families and businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and many more worry that they will be next. But Americans are meeting these times with courage and by putting first things first, at least everywhere but the White House. It is astonishing that in the midst of the worst recession in 26 years, this administration and Democrat leaders continue to advance job-killing proposals like the national energy tax and will carry that message to the global warming convention in Copenhagen. Rather than making a... Read More »
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) In the next few days President Obama will venture to Copenhagen, Denmark to attend the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began last week. One of the discussed goals of this conference is the creation of a universal climate change treaty. I am concerned that any job-killing, cap-and-tax style treaty could seriously harm American families, small businesses, and American sovereignty. Our economy is facing a skyrocketing national debt and 10 percent unemployment. The United States must reject any attempt by ... Read More »
As the White House’s “jobs-but-not-job-creation-summit” kicks off, I wanted to point out a few recent articles that clearly demonstrate why the President made a serious mistake by not inviting officials from American energy companies to attend today’s event and offer their ideas. After all, the oil and natural gas industry supports 9.2 million American jobs and adds more than $1 trillion (7.5% of our nation’s wealth) to the national economy. Robert Samuelson of Newsweek writes: “Obama can't be fairly blamed for most job losses, which stemmed from a crisis pre-dating his election. But he has ma... Read More »
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) Next month, global leaders will gather in Copenhagen to demonstrate their commitment to reducing carbon emissions and creating ecologically sustainable solutions to power our economy in the 21st century. Indeed, a moment has arrived when the world is looking to the United States to set the tone and serve as a model worthy of emulation – to be, as it were, a carbon-free city upon an ever-green hill. That is, if we can keep the lights on. America’s economic strength was forged on the back of abundant, affordable, carbon-intensive energy. Reducing our dependence on fossi... Read More »
Today, Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post reports that the British government unveiled plans yesterday to construct 10 nuclear power plants. He notes that: “After years of resistance to construction of nuclear-power plants, the British plan underscored how nations around the world are scrambling to find ways to generate more energy while slashing the emissions that cause climate change. To do that, nations including the United States are considering more reliance on nuclear power, which, while generating radioactive waste, produces almost no carbon emissions.” While Republicans have put for... Read More »
Today, Josh Gerstein of Politico has a piece entitled “Obama: Time to get to work on jobs.” He states: “President Barack Obama on Monday pushed his economic advisers to come up with job-generating ideas that can be hustled up to Capitol Hill.” Well, it’s about time. Since January, Republicans have hustled job creation suggestions to the White House – but unfortunately, not many of us were invited into the West Wing. In September, we released a list of specific ways the Administration and the White House Council of Economic Advisers could create a wide range of high-paying energy jobs in Americ... Read More »
Yesterday, Bill Klesse, President & CEO of Valero Energy Corp., testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the Democrats’ job-killing National Energy Tax legislation. He stated that the bill could add 77 cents to each gallon of gasoline. That’s about 30% above today’s prices! This increase will affect every American household across the country. When our nation is in the middle of a serious recession, Americans can’t afford to pay more at the pump. Especially the almost 10% of Americans who don’t have a job. Instead of providing “energy security,” the Democrats’ Nati... Read More »
Yesterday, Wall Street Journal blogger Keith Johnson wrote an interesting post about a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that was released. The poll highlights America’s declining support for cap-and-trade legislation. Only 48% of the public would approve of a proposal that “would require companies to reduce greenhouse gas that cause global warming, even if it would mean higher utility bills for consumers to pay for the changes.” 43% of those surveyed said they disapprove of the plan, while 9% are undecided. “That’s a noteworthy drop from 53% approval and 40% disapproval in April,” Johnson writes. ... Read More »
Tomorrow, President Obama will speak at the Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Florida. While the President regularly says he supports “comprehensive” energy development, the Florida branch of the Solar Energy Industries Association actually recently announced support for a concrete, common-sense way to develop a wide range of American energy resources. As the New York Times reported on October 5th: “In a release last week, the Florida branch of the Solar Energy Industries Association announced its support for drilling off the state’s coast – in order to create a revenue stream to s... Read More »
