A southern shoreline just up the California coast from the latest oil spill. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
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Like a clock even the governor of California sometimes gets it right. Newsom issued 138 offshore well permits. “Governor Newsom has issued 138 permits for wells located offshore,” according to Kyle Ferrar, Western program coordinator for the FracTracker Alliance. “This includes five new drilling permits and 133 permits to perform work on existing offshore wells.
Onshore Newsom has issued over 9,000 permits. Knowing California has enough oil on and off shore, the governor needs to double what he’s already issued.
But California has two loon groups trying to send California back to the stone age.
Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance are among a coalition of groups calling on Newsom to issue a mandatory 2,500-foot setback between oil drilling operations and communities. Up to one mile would be preferable based on the evidence, they argue.
Take just one state. California. California’s natural gas and oil industry supports 1053,000 jobs, contributes $189.1 billion to the state economy, and provides the state $2.6 billion in wildlife conservation funding. Does anyone think that solar can replace that?
The truth is that America’s energy companies pay their fair share, and support over 10.3 million jobs right here at home. Every job in natural gas and oil supports another 2.7 jobs in other sectors. And rather than getting special tax treatment, the effective tax rate for natural gas and oil has been historically higher than electric utilities, banks, airlines, and several other large industries.
America’s natural gas and oil producers are able to creates tens of millions of jobs because of a tax code that levels the playing field across all industries and allow natural gas and oil to invest in new technology. See video below.
America is on its way to recovery. That’s why we need to stop these short-sighted tax hikes now, to keep our recovery moving.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden embarked on a campaign to rein in domestic oil and gas production. On his 204th day in office, he was pleading with OPEC to increase its production to stem the sharp rise in gasoline prices, to which OPEC said no dice.
Virtually overnight, the nation has gone from Trump-era “energy dominance” to a Carter-era energy crisis. But unlike Jimmy Carter, who blundered his way into gasoline shortages, Biden is intentionally creating the current situation to pay homage to climate “crisis” environmentalists.
During his presidential campaign, Biden promised to “get rid of fossil fuels.” Since taking office, he’s been busy trying to carry out that pledge. One of the first things he did in office was to call a halt on oil and gas leases on federal lands and off our coastlines, and has yet to resume allowing them even after a federal judge ordered the administration to do so. He shut down construction of the Keystone Pipeline. He blocked energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He directed federal agencies to “eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law.” He’s promised to add some $90 billion to the industry’s tax burden by eliminating what he calls tax “subsidies.”
Even now, the administration “is preparing to release a blueprint for limiting sales of U.S. drilling rights as rising oil and gasoline prices highlight the risks of curtailing domestic crude production,” reports Bloomberg. “The Interior Department also is expected to limit new leases in some sensitive coastal and Western areas and begin a broad study of the climate effects of oil and gas development on federal property.”
They have been pumping oil under the Great Lakes since 1953. Now the Governor is worried about drinking water? Enbridge is the worlds largest oil mover. They move over 540,000 barrels of oil a day. What do you think happens to the price of both gasoline and natural gas if this is halted?
Enbridge said Tuesday it would defy Michigan’s demand to shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, contending that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision was based on bad information and political posturing.
This not only effects the US, but Canada also. So far Enbridge has refused to comply. They have till May 12.
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