Russia’s brutal invasion of Georgia makes one thing perfectly clear and should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans. We need to Drill Here and Drill Now! The invasion shines the light on the need to dramatically reduce or cut off our dependence on foreign oil. Why would the U.S. want to expose the American economy to the potential risk of being held hostage by a couple of oil pipelines that run through the old Soviet empire? Do we really want OPEC, Hugo Chavez, and Vladimir Putin to control our energy prices? Or will we be brave enough to seize our own energy independence? Expanding domestic oil exploration and refining is vital for our national security and the security of our allies.
Its time for Congress to get off their corrupt lazy asses and pass an energy bill that includes drilling on all federal lands and offshore, plus the development of alternative forms of energy.
Republicans need to jump all over this and explain it to the American people.
This editorial from IBD is spot on and backs up my point.
Energy: Russia’s bloody invasion of a smaller neighbor whose territory includes a vital oil pipeline has left many people wondering: What can we do? Plenty, it turns out — including some things right here at home.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced he was halting Russia’s air and ground attack on Georgia, but someone forgot to tell Russia’s military.
It has continued its brutal assault, with news reports that Russian troops have started looting, raping and savagely attacking Georgian civilians.
It’s clear former President Vladimir Putin, not his handpicked successor Medvedev, is calling the shots. Putin’s made no secret of the fact that he wants to depose Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and set up a pliant puppet regime, giving him de facto control of Georgia’s oil pipeline — the main conduit to Europe from the oil-rich Caspian Sea that’s not on Russian soil.
Why would Russia do this? As we note elsewhere on this page, roughly a quarter of Europe’s energy comes from Russia. This tightens Putin’s stranglehold on Europe’s economy and gives him all the diplomatic leverage he needs.
If you don’t believe this, look at the EU’s weak response to the crisis in Georgia. It “brokered” a cease-fire that is essentially a total capitulation by Georgia to Russian demands. Appeasement is back.
After Putin’s bullying, Europe is less likely to object to Russia’s profiteering from Iran’s nuclear program, or Russia’s brutal war against Chechnyan separatists, or its intimidation of Eastern European countries. Europe has no sticks for Russia — only carrots.
That’s not the case with the U.S. Start with President Bush’s pledge Wednesday to support Georgia, an ally in the war on terror, and send it aid. Bush warned Russia the U.S. might not support its “aspirations” to join diplomatic, economic and security groups.
We’ve already canceled joint NATO-Russia naval exercises, scheduled for this weekend. And we can turn the G-8 nations back into the G-7. Russia has shown that it doesn’t deserve to be counted among democratic, economically free nations.
But there’s more we can do:
• Russia wants badly to join the World Trade Organization. Put that on a back burner until it starts behaving.
• Russia is scheduled to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics at the resort of Sochi, 15 miles from Abkhazia, the other Georgian province that Russia just invaded. Cancel it, and give it to a more deserving host.
• We’re building a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. We should accelerate our plans, and broaden participation.
• Russia took in about $27 billion in foreign investment last year. We should limit capital flows to make sure Western capital and technology aren’t used to build Russia’s military.
In short, if Russia wants a Cold War, we can give them one.
One other thing: Congress should, as a matter of national security, pass a broad energy bill that includes drilling on all federal lands and offshore, plus the development of alternative energy.
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats deny the U.S. badly needed sources of new energy, they make America more vulnerable to energy blackmail. Russia’s gambit should remind us that energy policy is too important to be held hostage to special interests and domestic politics.
We have huge amounts of potential energy to be developed — at least 130 billion barrels of conventional oil reserves, 800 billion more in oil shale, massive supplies of natural gas, coal, burgeoning solar and wind technologies, and the technological ability to build the world’s most efficient and safe nuclear power plants.
Yet today, Americans get nearly 70% of their oil from overseas, making us vulnerable to blackmail by the likes of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran and now even Russia. Developing the full range of energy sources we have available may be the single most effective way of ensuring our nation’s security.
