Interior Secretary Salazar Gets Visit From The Stupid Fairy

If you were in Washington DC last week, you may have seen an extra twinkling object in the night sky over the building that houses the Department of Interior. Some claimed that it was a UFO, but that is a false claim  That twinkle was just the Fairy of Stupidity spreading his stupid dust over the office of Interior Secretary Salazar...And that fairy dust is working very well on the Secretary, maybe too well.

On Friday, Salazar was asked why  the Obama administration opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) given the rising cost of gasoline, the Interior Secretary answered that the “drill, baby, drill program” is not going to lead the United States to energy independence.

“We don’t believe that you need to drill everywhere and we don’t believe that the 'drill, baby, drill' program is the way that’s going to get us to the energy independence that we need for America or that will power our economy and that’s why the President has been so clear from day one and we in the Department of Interior have been so clear that what we need to do is need to have a robust energy program that includes a number of different sources of energy and while yes, we are pushing forward with oil and gas development both offshore and onshore which was the subject of much of the hearing today, we’re also moving forward with renewable energy,” he told CNSNews.com after testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee about his Department’s FY2012 budget.

“The President has said we are supporting nuclear, we’re support other clean air energy forms and at the end of the day, this is a place where there is hope that perhaps some of the Republicans in the House would come together and say that we can move forward with energy legislation that moves us into this new energy future.”

Instead of using facts, the Interior Secretary is using spin and hyperbole. Here are some of  the facts about Anwr.

• The Coastal Plain of ANWR is America's best bet for the discovery of another giant "Prudhoe Bay-sized" ail and gas field in North America. Many economic benefits would result:
• The Coastal Plain could produce up to 1.5 million barrels per day for at least 25 years - nearly 25% of current daily U.S. production.
• The U.S. would save $14 billion per year in oil imports.
• Between 250,000 and 735,000 jobs are estimated to be created by development of the Coastal Plain.
• Federal revenues would be enhanced by billions of dollars from bonus bids, lease rentals, royalties, and taxes.

More than 75 percent of the citizens of Alaska, the Alaska legislature, the governor, the congressional delegation, and the residents of the North Slope Borough ( including those who live in the only village in the refuge ), support Coastal Plain oil and gas development All necessary government resource evaluations have been completed. It is time far Congress to authorize this exploration and development.

Will Anwr totally solve our energy problems? No, but it will certainly help a heck of a lot. As Interior Secretary, Salazar should know that...unless he was sprinkled with stupid dust.

“What I say is what the White House would say and that is that we are moving forward with an effort to stand up oil and gas drilling in the deep oceans of the gulf and are doing it in a safe and orderly way and that’s reflected in the budget request that we were defending for the President today,” he said.

Lets talk about off shore, while its true the Dept.of Interior awarded its first off-shore contract since the BP disaster, but at the same time they are going to court to delay the awarding of other leases.

Two days after the White House said it would comply with a federal judge's ruling forcing the administration to act on offshore drilling permits, the Obama administration announced tonight that it will now appeal that ruling.

On Wednesday of this week, Deputy Secretary of Interior David Hayes told Congress: "We will comply with the court order and make the decision, up or down, on the pending permits."

That statement came 48 hours after Interior announced it was granting its first deep water drilling permit in nine months, an event that Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, hailed as a "significant milestone." Bromwich also said he expected "further deepwater permits to be approved in coming weeks."

Late this evening, however, President Obama's Department of Interior -- led by Ken Salazar -- announced it had decided to appeal the court's decision, a reversal of opinion that will only further delay the timely and responsible processing of permits for American energy production.

 As Oil prices continue to spike up, our government is doing whatever it can to stop the US from becoming energy independent. The real question is are they doing it on purpose, or are they just suffering from a sprinkling of dust from the stupid fairy?