In a desperate attempt to reignite momentum for the final days of the presidential campaign, President Obama released, “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs and Middle-Class Security” — his plan for his second term in office.
The 20-page brochure describes Obama’s agenda, including his strategies to address energy, education, taxes, and entitlement programs.
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Steven Chu wished for gasoline prices to go as high as prices in European countries and called coal his “worst nightmare.”
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Obama’s plan will serve as a foundation for the remaining days of the campaign and be rolled out in TV ads and mailings within key battleground states.
Americans should not be fooled by Obama’s last gasp to stay in power. A critical review of the president's plans with respect to energy exposes Obama’s insincere attempt to promote fossil fuel development in order to pander to Americans suffering from high gasoline prices.
An uneducated voter reading the president’s plan would mistakenly think Obama is a champion of fossil fuels. However, the truth is far different.
Obama’s actions against fossil fuels over the past four years speak much louder than his deceptive words on a glossy brochure.
Obama’s aversion to fossil fuels has been consistent and can be observed through the policies he has advanced, political appointments, and the attitudes permeating through his administration.
In 2008, then presidential candidate Senator Obama promised to make electricity prices “skyrocket” and utilities that used coal would go bankrupt. Obama hired Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who wished for gasoline prices to go as high as prices in European countries and called coal his “worst nightmare.”
Top EPA Administrator Al Armendariz resigned after a video surfaced that caught him saying his enforcement rationale was guided by a philosophy to “crucify” oil and gasoline companies.
Let’s also not forget that Obama hired anti-fossil fuel advocates Carol Browner and Van Jones to serve in the White House as energy and green jobs czars, respectively.
Early in his first term, Obama championed his cap-and-trade energy policy with a goal to cut back on greenhouse gases by decreasing the use of coal, oil, and natural gas — by making them more expensive.
In addition to making it extremely more expensive to generate electricity from coal, cap-and-trade would have increased the cost of refining oil. Then oil and gas company giant ConocoPhillips left a lobbying group promoting the law when the company discovered the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill would have significantly increased the cost of refining oil in the United States
The Wall Street Journal reported the company said the bill would result in a decrease in domestic refining and loss of U.S. based jobs.
Following the failure of cap-and-trade to become law, Obama sought the same anti-fossil fuel ends by having the EPA unleash a series of regulations targeting the coal industry. These regulations are forcing more than 200 coal-fired utilities to close and thousands of coal miners to lose their jobs.
Even more deceptive is Obama preventing the EPA and other federal agencies and departments from issuing about a dozen rules until after the election.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., recently released a report, "A Look Ahead to EPA Regulations for 2013: Numerous Obama EPA Rules Placed On Hold until after the Election Spell Doom for Jobs and Economic Growth," which outlines a list of EPA regulations and their impact on our economy.
If issued, these rules would deal a final crushing blow to the coal industry, raise the cost of refining oil and hold back on natural gas production.
According to Inhofe, the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations, “will cost more than $300 to $400 billion a year, and significantly raise the price of gas at the pump and energy in the home.” The EPA has already issued a proposed standard for new power plants that will be a de facto ban on the construction of new coal-fired electricity plants. The EPA is also expected to issue additional rules for existing power plants and refineries that will have negative consequences for economic growth.
The EPA’s greenhouse gas rule is Obama’s effort to replace his failed cap-and-trade policy.
While Obama’s second term plan touts natural gas as an energy source, proposed rules on hydraulic fracturing — the technology that has led to significant natural gas production — will be impeded by impending regulations.
Inhofe’s report cites a study that a rule from the Interior Department would cost between $1.499 billion to $1.615 billion a year. In addition, the EPA is expected to weigh in on fracturing from a number of different perspectives including air, water, and waste regulations.
President Obama’s anti-fossil fuel agenda is clear and “The New Economic Patriotism” is a cynical attempt to mislead voters about his record.
Let’s hope voters are savvy enough to cast their votes for the president on his true record and not a complete distortion of the truth.
Deneen Borelli is the author of “Blacklash: How Obama and the Left are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation,” and is Director of Outreach with FreedomWorks, a grassroots organization that educates, trains and mobilizes volunteer activists to fight for limited government. Read more reports from Deneen Borelli — Click Here Now.
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