"Best energy president in decades:President Obama" US gone from importing 2/3 to <50%

[Pirate Smile]

Quote:Obama deserves credit for strong growth in energy industry

As Republican presidential candidates like Gov. Rick Perry tout their energy plans, they would do well to study our best energy president in decades: President Obama.

Advocates for the U.S. energy industry routinely say they wish President Obama would pursue pro-growth energy policies. Well, he has been, and not just for the likes of fallen green giants like Solyndra. Under Obama, the traditional U.S. energy sector is flourishing. The domestic energy sector is experiencing its largest growth since the halcyon days of the 1950s and 1960s. As importantly, we're growing in the right directions.

.....
U.S. domestic oil production is up an incredible 14 percent since Obama took office. A few years ago we imported nearly two-thirds of our petroleum products. Today we import less than half. The reduction in imports means tens of billions of dollars now stay in our own economy.

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Increasing production with one hand while reducing consumption with the other - this is the kind of leadership the U.S. has long needed in energy.

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/art...241647.php

[jaxx]

Good that we are importing less oil, and so important that alternative energy sources become our main energy routes. It will take time to get away from oil, but we are on our way.

[Peacetrain]

Liking that !

[sandnsea]

I can't believe every 6 o'clock news desk missed this!!!

ha.

Does the article say where the 14% increase is coming from?

[Pirate Smile]

(10-30-2011 04:23 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  I can't believe every 6 o'clock news desk missed this!!!

ha.

Does the article say where the 14% increase is coming from?

Here are some more details:

Quote:But it's not just oil: dry natural gas production is up 16 percent, natural gas liquids are up 26 percent, solar generation is up 14 percent and wind generation is up 59 percent. Even production of coal - supposedly the main target of Obama's policies - is flat over that same time period. There are even headlines blaring that U.S. refining capacity is at the highest point in decades, exceeding levels achieved under recent Republican administrations. All of this growth produces royalties and taxes to address our budget challenges.

Despite the numbers, many in the energy industry describe Obama as if he's intent on making us freeze in the dark. They'd have us believe Obama and his team are singlehandedly killing the American energy industry. The facts tell a different story: This is a pro-energy president.

How did this come to be? Obama doesn't get all the credit. The Bush administration's second-term emphasis on domestic production and lower consumption coupled with higher prices are the key ingredients for success. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President Bush), the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by President Bush), along with federal stimulus funding, legislative extensions of tax credits and other incentives for energy production during the Obama administration, all contributed to our energy success today.

Obama wasn't a silent witness to this renaissance. As a senator, he broke with his party leaders to vote for EPACT 2005. Since becoming president, he has doubled down on key energy policies, taking stances that befuddle traditional energy stakeholders. By conventional wisdom, Democrats are supposed to dislike nuclear power, but Obama tripled the Bush-era loan guarantees from $18.5 billion to $54.5 billion. Democrats are supposed to dislike oil and gas production, but Obama has opened up offshore production - something multiple Republican presidents and governors failed to do.

[Willinois]

It's kind of strange how this is framed. It's odd that they portray it as all energy sources growing.
Output for all energy sources went down when the economy tanked. Demand tanked. The article admits that coal is staying at low recession levels. Only other energy sources are going back up. The biggest growth is in wind.
Also, it's true that DOE energy loans for nuclear were approved but that hasn't translated into building new nuclear plants.
So the even more positive story is that we're mover to a cleaner energy economy. I'm not sure why the author tries to obscure that. And giving some of the credit to Bush is just bizarre.

Domestic oil production is up primarily because oil prices are up, which makes our expensive domestic oil profitable to extract. That will change as fast as oil prices go down.

[There Is No Spoon]

(10-30-2011 08:02 PM)Willinois Wrote:  ...

Domestic oil production is up primarily because oil prices are up, which makes our expensive domestic oil profitable to extract. That will change as fast as oil prices go down.

You reminded me of a thread I posted taking on the idiotic Republican claims that the Obama administration has thwarted oil production in the US - http://democratsforprogress.com/forum/sh...production



The Republicans claim to love capitalism, but act like they have no idea how it works when they need to attack their "opponent". Dishonest motherfuckers. Unfortunately, the article in the O/P seems to muddy the waters in a similar fashion WRT oil production. It is good to see alternative power production increasing however.