Stopgap and Soap Scum

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Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Congressman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continue to resist any efforts to shore up energy independence in the current energy debacle. Reid refused to let a bill come to the floor yesterday regarding drilling, saying the oil companies have enough land allocated to them already that’s not being used. That’s only half the story.

The BLM rents land to companies for drilling. Until it goes online, it’s listed as “nonproductive”, even if the oil company is exploring or building the rigs. Even after the land is rented, a company must then apply to the Dept of Interior for a permit to drill before they can do anything, so land may sit unused for years, while environmental groups hedge up the way with lawsuits and regulators drag out the permit process.

Along with Senator Reid, many other politicians, mostly Democrats, decry the concept of drilling as nothing but a stopgap measure and say it won’t do anything. However, if your bathtub full of water is draining and you still need to bathe, wouldn’t you try to put something in the drain to stem the outflow? Tissue? Towel? Rocks? Your toe? Anything? Drilling may not be the ultimate answer, but it’s an answer that can be brought online now to stem the flow and cushion the blow.

While driving to work today, I thought about the poor truckers out there with me who are paying $4.75/gal for diesel. Since I know they’re paid by the mile, the high cost of fuel has really cut into their profit, and so there may soon come a time when some of them can make more at McDonalds or Target than they can driving a big rig. If they quit, who will haul the freight? You can’t honestly tell me Senator Reid that you expect to power semi-trucks with solar or wind power? Or maybe we’ll run them on water (which is also a scarce resource) or hydrogen. Wouldn’t that be comforting to know you have a small sun under your seat exploding to drive your truck’s engine?

After all is said and done, when the water drains out of our cisterns, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will probably still be in office, despite their promises to do something about gas prices in 2006, which are 75% higher than they were two years ago. I do not look forward to cleaning out the nation’s unsightly bathtub ring, but I vow to do all in my power to Get Rid of Reid.

Walton for Senate 2010