Today, the AEX team had the honor of joining hundreds of Americans in Titusville, PA to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Drake Well and the economic growth, prosperity and quality of life made possible by the discovery of oil. Like the previous ten days, we spent a lot of time talking to folks about cap-and-trade and how government rationing of our energy — and the higher energy prices that would necessarily follow – would affect their lives, their businesses, and their families’ budgets. And like the thousands of folks we’ve already spoken with, nearly everyone we met today is adamantly opposed to the cap-and-tax plan.
They’re also more than just a little unhappy with the fact that their Senators support this job-killing legislation.
But cap-and-tax wasn’t the only concern we heard from folks in Titusville. In the 150 years since ‘Colonel’ Edwin Drake first struck oil, the world has consumed about one trillion barrels and we’re all better off because of it. Oil lifted the burden of work from the backs of man, lifted millions out of poverty, and made life as we know it possible. The people we spoke with today get that.
So they’re none too pleased with the decades old government policy of restricting access to the abundant resources that lay fallow beneath the 96 percent of taxpayer-owned lands that aren’t leased for exploration.
They’re concerned about the fact that it’s been over a year since the government responded to the will of the American people and ended its ban on responsible offshore energy exploration, and yet we’re no closer today to accessing more of our abundant offshore supplies than we were a year ago.
They’re wondering how their government can justify loaning $10 billion to Brazil to help that country develop its offshore energy reserves, while continuing to deny Americans access to the offshore supplies they rightfully own.
They’re dumbfounded by the fact that 150 years and about a trillion barrels later, their government is sitting on another two and half trillion barrels of oil shale on federal lands in the West, effectively foreclosing on a resource nearly three times as large as Saudi Arabia’s proven supplies.
They’re pretty much fed up with the government’s recent actions – and future plans – to deliberately make it more difficult and more expensive to put Americans to work producing more reliable, affordable American energy.
To all our friends in Titusville, and all the folks throughout this great nation who feel the same way, we’re on your side. And we won’t rest until our voices are heard.
