Posted: 09/12/2008
NCPA Expert: Expect Little from Friday's Energy Summit
Burnett Says Committee Meeting is Political
Dallas (September 11, 2008) - A congressional energy summit set for Friday is likely to be all flash, with no substance, according to H. Sterling Burnett, a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.
"After years of resistance, democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has conceded to public opinion and is preparing to discuss the topic of offshore oil drilling," Burnett said. "The options being considered at Friday's summit have a number of preconditions that won't solve the country's energy problems."
"The democratic plans would either limit areas where drilling could take place, raise the costs to develop off shore leases, or force states to use renewable energy, even when it doesn't make sense," Burnett said. "In the end, the bills being proposed aren't meant to actually allow new domestic production, but rather are brazen political showpieces, all flash with no substance. They're something to use politically to keep their seats."
Congress should simply allow exploration and production to go forward, Burnett pointed out.
"Let the leases move forward and let the revenues flow to the U.S. Treasury - sharing a portion with coastal states that buy in to new drilling, and then let the oil flow to American consumers. This is what the public wants and what the country deserves," Burnett said.
The NCPA is an internationally known nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute with offices in Dallas and Washington, D.C. that advocates private solutions to public policy problems.