{"id":493980,"date":"2010-03-31T15:13:37","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T19:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/?p=22225"},"modified":"2010-03-31T15:13:37","modified_gmt":"2010-03-31T19:13:37","slug":"eia-new-offshore-drilling-will-lower-gas-prices-in-2030-a-few-pennies-a-gallon-bush-official-dan-bartlett-admits-authorizing-offshore-oil-drilling-will-be-unlikely-to-win-over-any-gop-votes-re","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/493980","title":{"rendered":"EIA: New offshore drilling will lower gas prices in 2030 a few pennies a gallon – Bush official Dan Bartlett admits authorizing offshore oil drilling will be unlikely to win over any GOP votes: “Republicans have made a calculation that cooperating with this administration at this time is not necessary for them to pick up seats”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"EIA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Obama administration announced today that it will be approving \u201csignificant oil and gas exploration off America\u2019s coasts<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report, “Impact of Limitations on Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf<\/span><\/a>” analyzed the difference between full offshore drilling (Reference Case) and restriction to offshore drilling (OCS limited case).\u00a0 In 2020, there is no impact on gasoline prices (right hand column).\u00a0 In 2030, US gasoline prices would be three cents a gallon lower.\u00a0 Woohoo!<\/p>\n

I have previously written about the trivial impact of opening the OCS further<\/strong> to drilling — T<\/strong>he oil companies already have access to some 34 billion barrels of offshore oil they have barely begun to develop <\/strong>(see “The cruel offshore-drilling hoax<\/a>“).\u00a0 I have also written that I thought it inevitable that the Dems would cave on drilling when oil prices started to jump (which hasn’t happened yet thanks primarily to the global recession).<\/p>\n

So the only reason for the administration\u2019s policy shift would be to get conservative votes for comprehensive energy reform.\u00a0 As Think Progress explains<\/a>, that effect seems unlikely:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the summer of 2008, then-candidate Obama explained that he saw allowing offshore oil drilling as a compromise necessary to \u201cget something done<\/a>\u201c:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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“The Republicans and the oil companies have been really beating the drums on drilling,\u201d Obama said in the Post interview. \u201cAnd so we don\u2019t want gridlock. We want to get something done<\/strong>.\u201d The freshman Illinois senator and presidential nominee-to-be added: \u201cIf, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage \u2014<\/strong> I don\u2019t want to be so rigid that we can\u2019t get something done<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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During an appearance on MSNBC\u2019s Morning Joe, former Bush official Dan Bartlett said that the move is unlikely to get any Republican votes for an energy bill. While saying that he thinks it is a \u201cshrewd move\u201d that will \u201cdemonstrate\u2026that the Democratic Party doesn\u2019t just cater to the extreme aspects of their base,\u201d Bartlett conceded that it will likely not win any Republican votes because “Republicans have made a calculation that cooperating with this administration at this time is not necessary for them to pick up seats<\/a>:”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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BARTLETT: This is a shrewd move by the White House this announcment they\u2019re doing on energy and offshore oil drilling. \u2026 These are the things they need to demonstrate to their constituents that the Democratic Party does not just cater to the extreme aspects of their base \u2026 Now, do I think that this measure here will help grease the path for a climate change bill and bring Republicans on board? No.<\/strong> Republicans in the Congress have made a calculation that cooperating with this administration at this time is not necessary for them to pick up seats.<\/strong> So if this is more of a legislative maneuever in order to get a broader bill on climate change, unfortunately this is going to come up short.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Indeed, Republicans have thus far indicated that they are unwilling to compromise in exchange for the administration\u2019s lifting of offshore oil drilling bans. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) immediately \u201cdismissed the president\u2019s plan as not going far enough in opening up U.S. waters for exploration,\u201d even going so far as to accuse Obama of defying \u201cthe will of the American people<\/a>\u201d because he didn\u2019t open up even more territory for offshore drilling. Meanwhile, Chairman of the House Republican Conference and the American Energy Solutions Group Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) derided the plan as a \u201csmokescreen\u201d and a \u201cfeeble attempt to gain votes<\/a>\u201d for comprehensive energy legislation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>Matt Yglesias writes, “I don\u2019t understand this at all. Increased coastal drilling would be a small price to pay in exchange for actual congressional votes for an overall energy package that shifts us to a low-carbon economy over time. But any price is too high a price to pay in exchange for nothing at all. This isn\u2019t the greatest environmental crime in human history, but it sure does seem like poor legislative strategy<\/a>.”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Sarah Palin responds<\/a> with a pair of tweets. In the first, she writes, “Drill, baby, drill<\/a>.” In the second, she praises Boehner’s response and admonishes Obama<\/a> for trying to win over conservative votes for an energy overhaul:<\/p>\n

\"rougin\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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<\/strong>Newt Gingrich told the St. Petersburg Times that while he likes the idea of drilling, he thinks Obama is doing it too late. “If he’s going to announce he’s for drilling, he should announce that we’re drilling now. I don’t think the people want a party of manana<\/a>,” Gingrich said.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
For a full set of dismayed quotes from progressives, go to Enviroknow<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
UPDATE:\u00a0 If you go to the Department of Interior website<\/a>, which was difficult to access earlier this afternoon, you’ll see that Obama isn’t actually issuing leases in most of these places but merely allowing some exploratory drilling.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Obama administration announced today that it will be approving \u201csignificant oil and gas exploration off America\u2019s coasts.\u201d\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why? Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report, “Impact of Limitations on Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf” analyzed the difference between full offshore drilling (Reference Case) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":687,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/687"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}