| Yesterday, the Texas Republican Party tried to distract voters by offering jokes instead of solutions to our energy crisis.
On August 1st, Republicans from across the country joined together to break the law and rules of Congress to stage a political stunt on the House floor. Instead of offering solutions to our problems, Republicans failed to compromised on any issue before the House recessed for August.
While electric bills are on the rise and oil and gas companies are seeing windfall profits they have come up with the solution of fundraising to send "gift baskets" to 11 members of the House of Representatives:
The Republican Party of Texas is sending "gift baskets" to 11... members of Congress from Texas including Al Green (D-Houston ), Gene Green (D-Houston), Hinojosa (D-Mercedes), Jackson-Lee (D-Houston), Johnson (D-Dallas), Ortiz (D-Corpus Christi), Reyes (D-El Paso), Rodriguez (D-San Antonio), Cuellar (D-Laredo), Doggett (D-Austin), Edwards (D-Waco), and Gonzalez (D-San Antonio) with items they may need on their taxpayer funded vacation.
While Democrats have been doing their jobs in Washington, Republicans have been visiting Las Vegas strip clubs, text messaging people from the House floor during important debates, and refusing to debate Democratic challengers.
All Texans are asking for as an end to the culture of corruption, but the TRP and Republican leaders refuse. Instead they are actively fundraising to buy "gifts" for Democrats in Congress. What kind of gifts? |
List of "gift basket" contents:
- A tire pressure gauge: Also known as the "Obama" Energy Plan.
- Pinwheels: Democrats can finally harness the power of their hot air and put it to good use.
- Bucket and shovel: While the Democrats are vacationing on the beach for five weeks, they can begin exploring for oil.
- Magic wand: How else is a Democrat-majority Congress going to pass sensible energy legislation?
- Five dollar gas card: By the time the Democrats come home from vacation, they may need this to pay for one gallon of gas.
- Sun glasses: Just in case the Democrats run on solar power, they will be able to work from the pool.
The sad reality is that the Republican's are making fun of Democrats for offering solutions to the problem. Let's take just a second and respond to these Democratic proposals Hans is making fun.
Optimal Tire Pressure is a free solution: Kos points out a story in Time that proves Obama is right.
The Bush administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 barrels per day by 2030. We use about 20 million barrels per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage by 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone else did, we could reduce demand several percentage points immediately. In other words: Obama is right.
This is something we discussed in 2005 when I was working for the Alaska Coalition. If you American drivers were to increase their tire pressure in their cars, they would create as much oil as the USGS says in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Unlike drilling in the pristine Arctic Refuge, the oil saved would be immediate and wouldn't take 10 years to see results.
Wind Energy in Texas: Because of the commitment of both Democrats and Republicans, Texas is one of the largest producers in wind energy. Wind power is totally renewable, produces zero emissions, and is a huge job producer in Texas. Our problem is that we have Republicans preventing us from increasing the ability for our transmission lines to transfer all the power our Texas windmills create. They are literally preventing energy from getting to consumers. Now that is a pinhead move.
Drilling: This one kills me. Republicans want us to drill our way out of this crisis, but we produce 3% of the world's oil and use over 20%. Not only that, but oil companies have access to thousands of acres of government leases, and they refuse to drill there! So why are the Republicans so set on selling more of our land to huge multi-national companies? We can't drill our way to victory here. If we don't create more efficient energy and begin using renewable, our economy will continue to suffer.
The Republicans want to give us a magic wand: Hans asks the question, "How else is a Democrat-majority Congress going to pass sensible energy legislation?" That is a simple answer. If the Republicans would stop filibustering necessary legisation and if the Republican President would stop vetoing everything, then maybe we would have some solutions. Problem is, the Republican Party would rather play political games than fight for the people of Texas.
Rising Gas Prices: While they are clearly okay with gas prices being $5 a gallon, Barack Obama, Rick Noriega, Mike Skelly, and other have all said they want a comprehensive energy package. Problem is, Republican's want more hand outs for their lobbyist buddies, and Democrats want to have real solutions. Sadly, those to ideas are in conflict. As long as Republican's walk away from the negotiating table time and time and time and time again, basic economics will win. It's supply and demand folks, we demand 20% of the world's oil, and we produce 3%. As long as the Republican's only solution to the problem is drilling, we will see an increase in the cost to heat and cool our homes, drive to work, go on vacation, fly to see family, and everything else that uses energy.
They Want to Give us Sun Glasses?: Hans final "gift" shows just how out of touch they are. He wants to give Democrats sunglasses in case they run on solar power?
If we could begin production of solar cells in a bulk way, we could cut America's dependency on oil by nearly 33% within 5 years. We would produce more green jobs and help get us out of this recession. Unlike oil, natural gas, or coal, the sun isn't going anywhere. Imagine if every new apartment complex built in Texas had solar cells on the roof. Imagine if all of the new condo's being built in Austin, Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio were pumping energy back into the grid. If Republicans would let us work on incentive based energy policies we would be able to do so much.
While Hans Klingler and the gang over at the Texas Republican Party want to give out "gift baskets", Democrats have been trying to open the debate and give people relief from Bush and McCain's mental recession. The sad reality is, the Republican Party of Texas doesn't get it. They would rather pursue the same failed energy policy instead of working to fix the problem. Why? Because their buddies at Exxon, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and others need to make billions of dollars a quarter while we struggle to pay our bills. |
