Well, wouldn’t you know it, but last Thursday, the Democrats in Congress did just that. They proposed a law that would increase the amount of drilling for oil taking place on federal lands.
Funny thing – almost all the Republicans voted against the bill. Why? Well, H.R.6251, called the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act, moves to increase the amount of drilling for fossil fuels on federal lands without increasing the amount of land available for oil drilling. Instead, the law would force oil drilling companies to stop slacking off and to use the federal lands they’re already leasing more efficiently.
You see, although oil companies complain that oil supply is low because there isn’t enough public land available for them to drill on, those same companies are moving as slow as slugs to actually begin drilling on the public land they’re already leasing. The huge majority of land leased for the purposes of oil exploration hasn’t actually been tapped by the oil companies yet. They’re just sitting on that land, not drilling it.
For the sake of increasing the supply of oil, as Republicans in Congress have said that they want, the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act would have banned the federal government from granting new leases to companies that have not been drilling on the leases they already have in a timely manner. It makes perfect sense. If an oil company isn’t even using the leases of public lands they already have, why should they take on yet more leases… unless what those oil companies really want to do is just squat on their leases of public lands with oil under them only in order to prevent the oil from being drilled, thus decreasing supply and artificially driving up the cost of petroleum products so that they can make a bigger profit without doing any more work.
Those right wing members of Congress who voted against the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act were doing the bidding of the big oil companies, regardless of the harm to the larger American economy. That’s really scummy. In fact, that kind of oil-slick corruption is downright crude.
Take note: They’re not all Republicans. 19 Democrats jumped the tracks to vote against this work ethic for oil companies. The members of Congress who had the gall to vote against the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act and its attempt to force oil companies to become more efficient in bringing oil out of the ground and to the gasoline pump were:
| Robert Aderholt Rodney Alexander Michelle Bachmann Spencer Bachus Gresham Barrett Roscoe Bartlett Joe Barton Marion Berry Judy Biggert Brian Bilbray Gus Bilirakis Rob Bishop Marsha Blackburn Roy Blunt John Boehner Jo Bonner Mary Bono John Boozman Dan Boren Rick Boucher Charles Boustany Kevin Brady Paul Broun Henry Brown Ginny Brown-Waite Vern Buchanan Michael Burgess Dan Burton Steve Buyer |
David Camp John Campbell Eric Cantor Shelley Capito John Carter Steve Chabot Travis Childers Howard Coble Tom Cole Michael Conaway Jim Costa Ander Crenshaw Barbara Cubin Henry Cuellar John Culberson Geoff Davis David Davis Tom Davis Nathan Deal Charles Dent Thelma Drake David Dreier John Duncan Vernon Ehlers Jo Ann Emerson Phil English Mary Fallin Tom FeeneyMichael Ferguson |
| Jeff Flake Jeff Fortenberry Vito Fossella Virginia Foxx Trent Franks Rodney Frelinghuysen Elton Gallegly Scott Garrett Jim Gerlach Phil Gingrey Charles Gonzalez Virgil Goode Bob Goodlatte Kay Granger Sam Graves Gene Green Ralph Hall Doc Hastings Dean Heller Jeb HensarlingWally Herger Ruben Hinojosa David Hobson Peter Hoekstra Kenny Hulshof Duncan Hunter Bob Inglis Darrell Issa |
William JeffersonTimothy Johnson Sam Johnson Walter Jones Jim Jordan Ric Keller Peter King Steve King Jack Kingston Mark Kirk John Kline Joseph Knollenberg Randy Kuhl Ray LaHood Doug Lamborn Nick Lampson Tom Latham Steven LaTourette Bob Latta Jerry Lewis John Linder Frank Lucas Dan Lungren Connie Mack Donald Manzullo Kenny Marchant James Matheson Kevin McCarthy Michael McCaul |
| Thaddeus McCotter Jim McCrery Patrick McHenry John McHugh Howard McKeon Cathy McMorris Rodgers Charles Melancon John Mica Jeff Miller Candice Miller Dennis Moore Tim Murphy Marilyn Musgrave Sue Myrick Randy Neugebauer Devin Nunes Solomon Ortiz Ron Paul Stevan Pearce Mike Pence Thomas Petri Charles Pickering Joseph Pitts Todd Platts Ted Poe Jon Porter Tom Price Deborah Pryce Adam Putnam George Radanovich |
Ralph Regula Dennis Rehberg Rick Renzi Silvestre Reyes Tom Reynolds Ciro Rodriguez Harold Rogers Mike Rogers Dana Rohrabacher Peter Roskam Mike Ross Edward Royce Paul Ryan Bill Sali Jim Saxton Steve ScaliseJean Schmidt James Sensenbrenner Peter Sessions Christopher Shays John Shimkus Bill Shuster Michael Simpson Adrian Smith Lamar Smith Vic Snyder Mark Souder Cliff Stearns John Sullivan |
| John Tanner Lee Terry Mac ThornberryTodd Tiahrt Patrick Tiberi Michael Turner Fred Upton Tim Walberg Greg Walden James Walsh Zach Wamp David Weldon Lynn Westmoreland Ed Whitfield Heather Wilson Joe Wilson Rob Wittman Frank Wolf Don Young C.W. Bill Young |
