Friends of Herman Cain PO Box 2158 Stockbridge Georgia 30281 United States · "here's why I am a tea partier"


					
						
							
							
							
							Energy dependence: A 
							completely unnecessary national security risk
							

 
								
								
								March 27th, 2011

								By: 
								Herman Cain

								

								In 
								the early 1970s, America’s dependence on foreign 
								oil was a little over 20 percent. Today, our 
								dependence on foreign oil is over 65 percent. We 
								have become more and more energy dependent 
								because we have never had a serious energy 
								independence strategy, and we still do not have 
								one.

								

								
								Energy independence is within our grasp because 
								we have plenty of energy natural resources. We 
								have billions of barrels of oil, plenty of 
								natural gas reserves, more coal than any other 
								country in the world, lots of places we could 
								build dams for hydroelectricity and some of the 
								safest nuclear power technology in the world.

								

								Wind 
								and solar energy development is not going to get 
								us to energy independence. Studies such as the 
								Department of Energy’s “Billion Ton Study” have 
								shown that those two sources could at best 
								provide 5 percent of our energy needs combined.

								

								But 
								by maximizing all of our other domestic energy 
								resources, we could become energy-independent. 
								This would not only help to keep down the cost 
								of gasoline and the cost of nearly everything we 
								buy, but it would also be a boost to our economy 
								and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. 
								But most importantly, energy independence would 
								keep us from being vulnerable to the current 
								instability in the Middle East or the whims of 
								OPEC.

								

								But 
								to become energy-independent, we would have to 
								reject the false premise that America’s high 
								energy consumption is at odds with conservation, 
								or that we will cause irreversible harm to our 
								planet. To say that we will cause irreversible 
								harm to the planet by using our natural 
								resources responsibly is like saying that man 
								never should have discovered fire in the first 
								place.

								

								
								Natural resources are there for a reason. Use 
								them! That’s why they are natural! The Arctic 
								National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), oil reserves 
								off our own continental coasts, oil shale areas 
								out west and even nuclear power development can 
								create a path to energy independence.

								

								The 
								area proposed for production in ANWR for example 
								comprises only 0.08 percent of the 19 million 
								acres of the refuge, and it is estimated to 
								contain at least 16 billion barrels of 
								recoverable oil. Allowing drilling there would 
								not be an environmental hazard using today’s 
								technology. And, if any caribou got lost near 
								that less than two-acre carve-out of ANWR I 
								seriously doubt that they would even notice or 
								care.

								

								And 
								yes, accidents do happen in these various 
								sectors of our energy economy. We usually learn 
								from them to help minimize future accidents. 
								That’s common sense. But we do not need to go 
								overboard with excessive regulations after an 
								unfortunate accident to make the approval 
								processes even slower.

								

								
								Exploration and production of natural gas from 
								shale oil deposits represent another huge, 
								untapped opportunity. The technology to safely 
								extract natural gas from our enormous oil shale 
								reserves has never been better. But here again, 
								the environmentalists always scream that it’s 
								the end of the world, and then some gutless 
								elected officials kowtow to their wishes for 
								more regulations.

								

								So 
								why are we not on a path to energy independence? 
								It’s simply because of too many regulations that 
								slow down the process and discourage businesses 
								to invest. Illogical moratoriums, excessive 
								federal regulations and environmental extremists 
								who influence weak legislators are holding 
								America hostage to foreign oil.

								

								A 
								revitalized and responsibly unleashed energy 
								sector could be a significant economic stimulus 
								to our economy right here at home.

								

								
								Working families can’t afford to spend more of 
								their discretionary income on gasoline and 
								energy costs, especially in a stalled economy.
									

 
								
						
						
							Friends of Herman Cain

							PO Box 2158

							Stockbridge Georgia 30281

							United States
						
						 

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Energy dependence: A completely unnecessary national security risk