Not All Democrats Are Stupid About Oil and Energy

Ross bill calls for energy 'independence' on back of oil drilling

By JON GAMBRELL Pine Bluff Commercial 2/15/08

LITTLE ROCK - A plan introduced Thursday by U.S. Rep. Mike Ross to encourage alternative and renewable energy relies on oil drilling in Arctic wildlife lands and the Gulf of Mexico to meet its goals.

Ross' bill, the "American-Made Energy Act of 2008," also would create tax credits to build new nuclear power plants throughout the United States, with an aim of having 40 percent of the nation's power come from nuclear sources.

Ross, a leader of a group of fiscally conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dog Coalition, is a co-sponsor on the bill with Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Ross told reporters on a conference call Thursday that technology would allow companies to drill for oil without endangering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska.

"We're not just trying to suck the oil out of the ground for no reason," said Ross, D-Ark. We're trying "to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and take the revenue from the sale of that oil and invest in all of these environmentally friendly and job-creating emerging technologies."

However, drilling in the refuge became a topic of heated Congressional debate at the end of 2005, when Democrats defeated a bill that would have allowed drilling at the refuge, the largest untapped U.S. oil reserve. The defeat came when Republicans still controlled Congress.

Ross said the drilling in the Arctic and off the Florida coast called for in his bill would raise about $80 billion over 30 years. He said that money would be "more than enough" to fund efforts to expand tax credits to fight global warming, encourage renewable energy operations and help consumers buy plug-in electric and flex-fuel cars.

Ross said the bill's tax credits for nuclear power plants would help wean the U.S. off of fossil fuels as well, though his bill includes subsidies to encourage liquid fuel production of coal. He said that could encourage further exploration of Arkansas' own coal reserves, bringing more jobs and industry to the state.

However, Ross acknowledged encouraging nuclear power and drilling in the Arctic might be a tough sale to Congress.

"This is not the '40s or '50s, this is not Chernobyl," Ross said. "This is the 21st Century. We can do these things in an environmentally friendly manner."

Because this is the first Democrat I know of who seems to have his head on straight regarding our dependence on oil, our need to expand greatly domestic drilling and refining, and our longer range need to develop nuclear power starting NOW, I decided to reprint two earlier articles I posted on these subjects. Please go to: From Sea to Shining Sea .