Gerard believes that we must end our dependence on fossil fuels and more specifically foreign oil.  He is in favor of drilling our way to independence which he believes would provide the bridge to allow us to aggressively explore and develop alternatives to fossil fuel dependence in general.  Gerard is in favor of drilling in ANWR and off the coast of the United States.  “We have the technology to do it in an environmentally friendly manner what’s the delay? – Let’s go get it!”

There is no other issue which so completely touches our lives or so intertwined to every other issue facing Americans is that of energy.  Soaring fuel prices affect everyone on many different levels. From the prices we pay at the pump or to  heat our homes, to the products we buy, to the food we eat or the medicine we take, energy mismanagement in this country has put the entire country at risk.

Failed Energy Policy has contributed to the historically low approval ratings of Congress. Jim Cooper contributes to failed energy policy and contributes to the low approval.  Here are the facts:

Sadly, energy management, left to Washington politicians and bureaucrats who mistakenly think they know better than private sector energy professionals has been created a catastrophe. Thirty years of failed Washington energy policy threatens our economy, has damaged our ability to provide for ourselves as a nation, has eroded our self sufficiency, fed us incorrect information and outright lies that pit Americans against Americans.

 

ANWR In Prospective

Debunking the lies that drilling will be an environmental disaster to a pristine wilderness.

Horrible economic news has taking center stage. Lifetime career incumbent politicians are scrambling to explain, to their districts, they hated their vote on a bill that hooks our great, great, great, great, great grandchildren in a trillion dollar bail-out of bad legislation and poor judgment. It's easy to forget that gas is still over $3.00 a gallon.

We are in the midst of an energy crisis, mostly created by the same incumbents which have devastated our economy and confounded our retirement, our home value and the college fund for our children.

Jim Cooper, when given the chance to increase our gasoline supply by permitting and constructing new refineries in HR 3893 and HR 5254, he voted no. Cooper is against drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Why? According to Cooper and the likes of Pelosi and Reid, drilling run the risk of damaging a pristine wilderness.

But why the lies?

When Cooper, Pelosi and Reid refer to ANWR, they show you this:

 

Fact: The proposed drilling area is located on a costal plain which is a barren wasteland.  Does the above look like a costal plain, a barren wasteland?

Now, we'll look at the truth but first lets put a few things into perspective. The following are map illustrations to show you the proposed development area:

 

Notice the contrasting colors of the small portion in each representation of Alaska. The small contrasting shapes indicate the 19 million acres of ANWR, about the size of Wisconsin. The dot on the adjoining graphic illustrates 2000 acres approximately 10 miles off the North coast of Alaska near the Beaufort Sea.

Lets get a closer look. Notice the ANWR Costal Plain in green. The new facility would be built less than a hundred miles from the existing Prudhoe Bay Oil field and around twenty miles from the Sourdough Oil field. The proposed development area is indicated by the red dot. 

Now to put things into proper perspective, Nashville International Airport (BNA) sits on approximately 2000 acres. The foot print of the proposed drilling site would be a facility the size of Nashville airport sitting alone in the entire state of Wisconsin.

Maps are great but lets have a look at some actual winter shots of the region:

  

Above - The proposed site in winter. Above Right - The Prudhoe Bay Oil field facility, also in winter.

"A Pristine Wilderness" or vast barren waste land?  Without the aid of some politician or Washington bureaucrat, you be the judge. Here's a look at the same region during summer:

  

But let's not down play the devastating effect that drilling will have on the local wildlife. Notice the true peril and adversity suffered by the caribou heard of Prudhoe Bay:

The caribou are not the only severely impacted species.  It seems that other animals in the wild are having difficulty adapting to man's invasion of the Alaskan tundra:

Alaskan Brown Bear Superhighway

Now you see the truth for yourself... so why the lies of Jim Cooper, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? What does Cooper stand to gain by staying dependent upon foreign oil? For one, he gains power within his party at the expense of everyone, Democrats and Republican, in the 5th District.

Washington creates crisis to grow a bigger more intrusive government.  By keeping us dependent upon foreign oil Cooper and his cohorts benefit from price manipulations through shortages to rationalize and mandate a government controlled "Green Agenda".

I am not opposed to alternative energy sources or a "Green Sustainable Environment", I am against being manipulated by lies and hoaxes to create mandates that limits American freedom. I will fight to bring commonsense to these issues. I would never support a silly government ban on the light bulb for a silly and dangerous mandate to buy mercury vapor fluorescent bulbs.

In addition, I will fight in Washington to get government out of the way of entrepreneurs and unleash the power of free enterprise. I wish to turn loose the modern day Ben Franklins, Eli Whitneys, Thomas Edisons, Bill Gates, and Stephen Johns to their garages and laboratories to create and develop the alternatives energy systems we need.  I will support grants for worthy projects, not pork filled earmarks.  I will fight to suspend capital gains taxes on alternative energy investments to direct more capital toward those projects. In short I will fight to return to the principals and fundamentals that made this country great, a world leader in technology, efficiency and production. I do this now in the private sector; I can do this in Washington as well.

Developing alternative, "sustainable" energy will take time. Today "Green" energy only accounts for 6% of the total energy output of this country. We need to buy time and properly develop these technologies. In the short term we must add more oil to the market by drilling.

If oil companies drag their feet in an attempt to keep prices high I will fight to provide incentives that will attract capital to form America Only Oil Companies to directly compete with the traditional global oil companies. We need to develop clean coal technology including gasification, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution and vehicle conversion, hydrogen storage, sustainable wind energy, nuclear, and biomass. Over time we will replace dirtier technologies with newer cleaner technologies but not at the expense of US jobs or economics.

The facts are we need energy to succeed and survive. We need to become energy self sufficient in all its forms. Most of all we need to stop sending 700 billion dollars a year in oil revenue and thousands of jobs to countries that don't like us very much. The middle east as a whole would be less of a threat if we were not funding weapons for terrorists, many pointed at us. 

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