Posted by
On the Right on Saturday, May 17, 2008 12:38:39 AM
With the price of oil spiking above $127 a barrel, the search for
scapegoats has begun. Some point to the Saudis, OPEC's No. 1 producer.
Others blame the oil companies. We have a better candidate: Congress.
As President Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia to ask the House of Saud to
open the oil spigots a bit wider, Congress showed once again how
clueless it is when it comes to energy policy.
Underscoring its failure to grasp the nature of our current problems,
the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday refused to end its
moratorium on oil shale development in Colorado.
If you think Congress' decision-making on energy couldn't get any
worse, think again. While Bush was in Riyadh urging the Saudis to pump
more oil, congressional Democrats were busy undercutting him,
threatening to halt arms sales to our Mideast ally.
It was a politically peevish move with consequences both for U.S.
energy security and the balance of power. If we don't sell arms to
Saudi Arabia, Russia will. The result would be a loss of American
leverage with the Saudis, who, like many, feel threatened by a nuclear
Iran and the menace of al-Qaida.
With its failure to tap the vast supplies in ANWR and offshore, its
passage of costly global-warming legislation and now its refusal to
exploit our massive resources of oil shale, Congress has set us on a
path to less energy, higher prices and weakened national security.
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