Congressman Joe Sestak voted more than 10 times to block important American energy legislation this year, including legislation that would finance research on renewable fuels; open exploration for oil and natural gas in our deep waters, ANWR and the Rocky Mountains; fund development for new nuclear power plants; and fund new clean-burning coal-to-liquid technology. So I was quite surprised to hear him recently say – while Congress was out on its five-week vacation -- that he is now in favor of these energy reforms. If true, that would represent a dramatic break from his perfect voting record with the extreme environmental lobbying groups.
So, I recently went to hear Joe Sestak speak on the energy crisis and his plans for dealing with it. After an hour of questions about his shifting position, he eventually admitted his real position which is what I suspected all along: "The truth is the price of oil will go up again, and we have to weather it." That is his whole energy plan in a nutshell: "we have to weather it." Sestak said that the danger is not with spending (this year) $1 trillion on foreign oil, the danger is being dependent on fossil fuels. He said, in essence, that we need to bear it out until there are enough windmills and solar panels to end our reliance on oil.
Everything up to that moment was a smokescreen.
I agree that we need to work as a nation with all due haste to develop the next generation of energy. When it finally arrives in about 20 years, it will be impressive: it will be clean, renewable and cheap (by comparison).
In the meantime, our way of life relies very heavily on fossil fuels. Every time an environmental-extremist (like Sestak) says that we are gluttonous consumers of fossil fuels, you should ask them how many airplanes they have seen that are powered by solar panels. Ask them how many commercial vessels are running on windmills. Ask them how many heavy-construction and transportation vehicles are running on batteries. These transportation necessities are staples of our economy. And as energy prices go through the roof, heavy freight transportation prices go through the roof, along with the prices of every need in our daily lives.
But Joe Sestak says you need to grin and bear it. Sestak wants prices to stay high (as does Barack Obama) because that is the only way – in their mind – that you and I will curb our consumer tendencies and save our planet.
As I have said all along, we need American energy, and we need to begin producing it now. The natural resources of our country belong to you and me and our children. Joe Sestak and his ilk have decided that Americans cannot be trusted with new American energy. They have locked away our best oil resources; they have locked away our best natural gas resources (and are blocking development of new natural gas transportation), they have locked away our best coal technologies.
When Joe Sestak says that he is in favor of new drilling, wait for the "but". He favors new drilling as long as it is only on the land-leases that the oil companies have already. The "use it or lose it" Democrat smokescreen has been debunked, but that is the only way Sestak will agree to new drilling. Why are we not allowed to explore for oil and natural gas on all of our land? Because Sestak does not trust Americans to be good stewards of our environment.
The same goes for coal, natural gas and nuclear power. When Sestak says that he is now in favor of those things, wait for the "but". He says that with all of these technologies, he has "serious questions" about using any of them. Well, I had questions about ANWR and exploration on the North Slope of Alaska – so I went there to get answers to my questions. For me, it is about solving problems for my community, not setting up never-ending logic loops so it appears that I am for something when I know that I am not.
Developing new American energy is an imperative. We must move now towards energy independence. If you hear a candidate double-talking about American energy, ask yourself who he is serving. It is not you and me.
Craig Williams is the endorsed Republican candidate for the office of U.S. Representative for the 7th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He is a former federal prosecutor, Marine combat veteran, and former active duty Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
For more information, www.craigwilliamsforcongress.com
