Noon: Obama: “More Flexibility”--use less, pay more

President Obama made headlines during his visit to Seoul, South Korea—though not for his public policy statements, rather for his private comments, unintentionally broadcast, in conversation with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Believing he will be reelected, President Obama addressed dealing with “controversial issues”: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”
The comment was made specifically about missile defense. But there are many other “controversial issues” plaguing his presidency about which he is likely to feel that he has “more flexibility” when he no longer has a pending campaign keeping the lid on his actions.

One controversial issue facing President Obama today is energy. Since gas prices have been climbing dramatically, his rhetoric has changed. He is now bragging about increased oil production—though fact-checking shows that his statements are about as valid as “a rooster taking credit for the sunrise.” This apparent “change” is really just electoral posturing, not a new energy policy.
With the election behind him, four more years in the White House would allow President Obama to finish off the American dream—making all of us subjects of the state.
Some might think my claim is too harsh. Yet, looking strictly at energy issues, a third world is where we are headed. It is widely accepted that energy use, wealth and health are connected. The countries with the highest energy consumption are also the countries with the longest life expectancy and wealth: human well-being and material well-being.

When we study the words and actions of both President Obama and his administration, we see that given “more flexibility” our available energy will be greatly curtailed and what we do have will be far more expensive during an Obama second term. “Energy” refers to both liquid fuels for transportation and electricity for residential and industrial use. In both cases, the Administration’s policies favor reduced use and increased cost. Use less, pay more. Because gasoline prices, transportation fuels, are the headline issues, we’ll start there.

During his 2008 campaign, gas prices spiked—similar to the current increase. At that time, candidate Obama was asked about high gas prices. His response: “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.” And then, Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants to “figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” Under the pressure of a campaign, Secretary Chu has recanted, saying that he no longer “shares that view.” Yet, when asked about attempts to lower gas prices, he acknowledged that was not his goal.
President Obama continues his rant about penalizing the oil companies while promising to “double down on investment in clean energy technologies” such as “wind power, solar power and biofuels.” The biofuel he currently favors is algae: “Believe it or not, we could replace up to 17% of the oil we import for transportation with this fuel that we can grow right here in America.” The study his quote is based on also notes that it would “take acreage equivalent to the area of South Carolina to generate that much oil. It takes 350 gallons of water for every one gallon of oil you produce” and “meeting that water requirement would take 25% of our irrigation capacity.” Read rest of the column here: News New Mexico

Noon: Obama: “More Flexibility”--use less, pay more