Obama's Climate Change Nightmare: Cheap Oil Getting Cheaper

I'm of the belief that every time Obama says something, the opposite is true.  If he says you can keep your doctor, you can't. ISIS is a JayVee team?  Not hardly. These are only two examples of countless failed assertions made by this President.

In January 2015, Obama said "Don't buy that gas guzzler, fuel prices are gonna go up."  True to form, oil and subsequently gasoline prices, have fallen significantly.  At the time Obama said that, West Texas oil (WTI) was around $59/barrel.  As of this writing, it now sits at $36.32/barrel, and many say it could go as low as $20/barrel.  If that should happen, the national average for gasoline would be about $1.34 a gallon.  Substantially lower than the $1.61/gallon when Obama took office. Currently, the national average is slightly above $2/gallon according to the American Automobile Association (triple "A").

The reason that the President said "Don't buy that gas guzzler" is because he knew what would happen with low gasoline prices.  In general, people would stop buying fuel efficient and expensive hybrids and electric cars.  According to a recent story in Scientific American, Ford's biggest gas guzzlers, the brawny and high performance Mustang and the massive Lincoln Navigator, had a 70% increase in sales over last year.  The increase in sales of low-mpg and large SUV's and trucks are showing across the board sales increases among all manufactures.  At the same time, sales of electrics and hybrids have suffered.

I believe that falling oil prices drove President Obama's recent decision to not approve the Keystone XL pipeline project.  But, another decision on his part, will only make oil even cheaper.  That decision was to, again, allow Iran to sell its oil on the world market.  Thus, the current glut that is driving oil prices down, will only become a bigger problem when Iran's oil hits the markets.  For a President who wants his legacy to be about being green and lowering CO2 emissions from automobiles, cheap gas is his worst nightmare.


References:

Obama: Don't buy that gas guzzler, fuel prices are gonna go up: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a24697/obama-dont-buy-that-gas-guzzler/

West Texas Oil Prices: http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/%40CL.1

Gasoline Price Calculator Based on Oil Price: http://econbrowser.com/archives/2014/06/gasoline-price-calculator

Cheap Gas Fires Up Big SUV Sales, Slows Electric Cars, Hybrids: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cheap-gas-fires-up-big-suv-sales-slows-electric-cars-hybrids/

AAA: Daily Fuel Guage Report: http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/

The case for $20 oil is getting stronger by the day: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brace-yourself-because-20-oil-could-be-next-for-this-market-2015-12-08

Oil-price drop may threaten to undercut Obama's clean energy legacy: http://www.autonews.com/article/20150128/OEM01/150129810/oil-price-drop-may-threaten-to-undercut-obamas-clean-energy-legacy

Obama Is Lying About The Keystone Pipeline

Shortly after the House of Representative passed a bill that approved the completion of the Keystone Pipeline, President Obama was asked to comment and he said this:

Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn't have an impact on U.S. gas prices.

Therefore, according to Obama, Canada merely wants to use us as a conduit to send their oil to every place other than the United States.  Additionally, it will not have an impact on our gasoline prices.   Both of these comments are bald-faced lies.

If the only intent was for Canada to sell its oil overseas, then why build a pipeline extending a total of 2,100+ miles from their western province of Alberta to eastern Texas and western Louisiana?  After all, a 2100 mile pipeline is both expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain; greatly adding to the per-gallon cost of the oil moving through it. They had a cheaper alternative. Were they to build a pipeline that was only 850 miles long from their oil terminal in Hardisty, Alberta to their largest western seaport: Port Metro Vancouver.  Then, they could ship to some of the largest importers of oil in the world like China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.

But, as the President knows, Canada views us as a friendly and reliable trading partner.  This is why they are already our largest importer of foreign oil; accounting for 37% of our imported oil and  helping us to reduce our dependence on potentially unfriendly sources like the Middle East and Venezuela. 

Then, there is the issue as to whether or not Keystone will lower gasoline prices.  Simple economics and the Law of Supply and Demand says yes.  If you haven't noticed, gasoline prices in the U.S. are now at 4-year lows; from prices at the pump that were, in some cases, over $4 a gallon, to today's average price of below $3 and still falling.  The reason for this is the fact that there is an oil glut; primarily due to increased oil production in this country resulting from fracking.  The additional oil from the Keystone will only add to that glut and, as such, further reduce the price of gasoline.

Reduced gasoline prices is the real reason behind Obama's blocking of this project.

He knows that lower prices will undermine his push on climate change measures.  Lower gasoline prices means that people will be tempted to drive more and, at the same time, be less tempted to buy a newer, more fuel efficient car; including electric cars.  Thus, carbon emissions will only go up, not down.

Throughout his Administration, President Obama has done everything possible to keep gasoline prices  as high as possible by limiting oil production in this country.  He's used his Department of the Interior to limit oil leases on federal lands and our coastlines.  He has attempted to stop drilling on private lands bt using the EPA to expand endangered species to include those on prominent oil drilling territories and to file lawsuits over fracking.   Believe me, his intended expansion of the Clean Waters Act to include non-navigable waters will also ultimately be used to restrict drilling and fracking. That's because water is essential to all oil drilling.  In conventional drilling it keeps the drill bits cool.  In the case of fracking, high pressure water and chemicals are used to fracture shale and release the imbedded oil (and/or gas).


References:

Keystone pipeline: Obama bashes project while in Myanmar: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/14/keystone-pipeline-obama-bashes-project-while-in-my/

Keystone Pipeline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline

Distance From Hardesty To Port Metro: https://www.google.com/search?q=distance+from+hardisty+to+port+metro&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

Global Oil Glut Sends Prices Plunging - WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/articles/global-oil-glut-sends-prices-plunging-1413334648

Time to Process Oil Leases On Federal Lands: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Time-required-to-drill-1-sm.png

Oil Leases: Bush versus Obama: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/u-s-oil-production-up-but-on-whose-lands-2/

 EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination Lawsuits: http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303404704577313741463447670

Canada Tires of Waiting For Obama. Approves A New Pipeline to Supply Asia (China).

The President has delayed the Keystone Pipeline Project for almost as long as he's been in office.  That pipeline would have brought oil from Canada for refinement throughout the central and southern United States; and it now seems to be in jeopardy.  The Canadian government has just approved a trans-Canada pipeline that would move the oil that was originally destined for the Keystone Pipeline to their Pacific ports for shipments to Asia; primarily China.

So, instead of counting on our friendly neighbor to the north to supply us with oil, that neighbor has been forced to help China instead.  And, that oil, that would have been more cleanly refined in the U.S., will probably be processed in a country whose CO2 emission laws hardly exist.  As a result, Obama is actually responsible for creating more CO2 pollution than if it had been processed here in the US.  Is this what going it alone on Climate Change is all about?

Reference:

Canada OKs oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/canada-oks-oil-pipeline-pacific-coast

Obama And Another One Of His Blame America Statements

Now, according to Obama, America has become "lazy" in attracting foreign business to our shores.



This comes from the mouth of a hypocrite that, for 3 years, sat on 3 free trade agreements and the Canadian Keystone XL pipeline deal. All of these would have created jobs for Americans and should have attracted foreign investment in the U.S. This is especially true in the case of the XL pipeline; which has just been put on hold by the President for another year. Obviously, if anyone is "lazy" about creating jobs and attracting foreign investment, its Mr. Obama!

Obama's Tactical Indecision On the Keystone XL Pipeline

We've now learned that the President will put off his decision on whether or not to proceed with the Keystone XL, Canada-to-the-Gulf Coast, pipeline until after the 2012 elections. Many see this as another one of Obama's "present" votes which he had made so famous in his days with the Illinois Legislature. In reality, his indecision is the same as voting "no" without really saying it, because a year's delay will probably sink the project completely. The builder of the pipeline, TransCanada Corp., and the Canadian government aren't going to just sit around and wait for U.S. approval. Instead, they will redirect their efforts by building a truly trans-Canada pipeline that will carry oil to critical parts of Canada and to the Canadian coasts to supply tankers that are probably bound for places like China.

You see, the problem with the Keystone XL pipeline decision is the fact that no matter how Obama votes he's bound to fracture his own political base. If he votes "yes" to the project, the environmentalists will be angered. A "no" vote will be a slap against the unions who have been counting on the Keystone project as a source of thousands of high paying union jobs. By not making a decision, Obama feels like he has threaded the needle; keeping his base in tact.

But, to me, Obama has made a serious tactical error.

First, he's handed the Republicans three big "sticks" with which they can beat him over the head from now to the election. The first is all about jobs and the fact that thousands of jobs will be not be created at a time of such high unemployment. The second stick is the fact that we will become more dependent on imported oil from countries who are not our friends when, in fact, it would have been better off importing that same amount of oil from our friendly neighbor, Canada. Lastly, the pipeline would have had the added benefit of lowering the delivery cost of imported oil from Canada. A cost that would have eventually been reflected at the pumps with lower gasoline prices.

Then, too, the labor unions have to be angry about the delay. If the XL project is finally scrapped, that will only accentuate their anger.

This is another example of Obama putting his reelection bid ahead of the needs of the country. His own EPA issued a report stating that the environmental risk of that pipeline was miniscule. Yet, this President's anti-oil ideology and his concern over losing his environmental voting block has put the environment ahead of all other factors in delaying his decision. This is simply irresponsible and another reason why this man should be voted out of office next year.