The Fatal Conceit: Errors of Obama Administration Energy Policy

Amongst the litany of failures by the Obama administration’s domestic policy, none seems to be more salient than their naïve utopian energy policy.  You can already hear the clamoring of “drill baby drill” bellowing from conservative pundits and average Americans, who are adversely affected by skyrocketing energy prices and deficient energy policy.

So how did we get to this point?  First, the EPA or Employment Prevention Agency has been waging a full scale Soviet-style centrally planned assault on the productive energy producing sector of our economy, arbitrarily attempting to impose its will through bureaucratic decrees.  Since Democrats in the 111th congress were unable ram through cap and trade, the EPA has been flexing its regulatory muscle in an attempt to curb carbon emissions and stymie climate change.  All of course, at the miniscule price of economic prosperity.

The Obama administration has unilaterally reduced the issuance of offshore oil permits, which has drastically reduced our drilling and production of oil.  While the tumultuous and revolutionary events of the middle-east have affected the price of oil slightly, The Heritage Foundation shows that the demand for crude oil is the most significant contributor to rapidly increasing oil prices:

    “The most significant driver of rising oil prices is increased demand. Industrialized countries climbing out of their respective recessions are using more oil, and China and India are also using more oil as they continue rapid economic growth. Rising demand will continue to put upward pressure on prices as the world economy attempts to recover.”

As the pain at the pump festers and pockets of Americans become lighter, the Obama administration continues to purport “green technology” as the messianic endeavor of our time and solution to our energy dilemma.  That may be true, but sustainable efficient renewable energy is so far in the rear view mirror that continuation of government subsidies and mandates come at the expense of jobs and GDP growth.  Let the free market choose which energy sources are the most viable and release the economy from the shackles of our vast regulatory constraints.

If the free market becomes unrestrained from destructive centrally planned bureaucratic controls, then technology may advance to the point where renewable energy will become viable and efficient.  Until then, the mantra of an expansive energy exploration policy should be “Drill Obama Drill”.