LIBERTY RISING

For decades now we’ve been hearing about the dangers of America’s dependence on oil from enemy nations or unstable parts of the world. We’ve also been hearing since the 1970s about a need to expand domestic energy production in a way that protects the environment. With each successive election Americans are told about the nation’s energy crisis in bleak terms. That rhetoric is warranted. The problem is real. However, the environmental agenda is a charade.

The energy issue touches every aspect of our lives, from domestic policy to national security to job creation and food prices. Because of this cross-over, if there ever was a kitchen table issue it’s energy. As we have come to expect from an administration bereft of courage and American ideas, the Obama White House has abandoned its pledge to tackle the issue and every American is paying the price.

Obama’s rejection of the Keystone Pipeline is just one example of how he and other liberal politicians have allowed the eco-fringe to co-opt our government at all levels and our future.

The eco-fringe is the squeaky wheel of Democratic Party politics – a small, vocal, well-funded lobby that has bought off officials across the country, who in turn ignore the will of the people on energy policy and economic development. Under the guise of environmental protection, they ignore basic facts and the basic needs of Americans in an attempt to drive policies that aim to keep them relevant and make them money.

One hand washes the other. The Solyndra debacle is just one example of this colossal sham at the taxpayer’s expense. Billions of dollars have been wasted on risky so-called “green” energy or renewable energy projects as the Administration plays the tune of a small number of environmental groups and ignores the real solutions. While the majority of Americans want lower rates, an improved grid, less reliance on foreign oil, and the economic growth that comes from them, the eco-fringe and gutless liberals say no to America’s top priorities.

President Obama told us “we can’t wait” for the $787 billion stimulus so jobs can be created. He said “we can’t wait” for a jobs bill from the House Republicans. Keystone was a job creator, a shovel-ready project, a major infrastructure improvement and a thoroughly reviewed program that would have little to no adverse environmental impact. If the President had any genuine desire to really create private sector jobs and address our energy problems, this was a no-brainer. But the eco-fringe is pulling the strings.

In the United States, less than 20 percent of our power comes from nuclear energy and yet only one plant is currently under construction. China is presently building 26 and Russia 10. Any way you slice it, the Russians and the Chinese will be relying less on oil and more on nuclear as their economies continue to grow and develop. They’re putting untold numbers to work making it happen. They are solving their problem while America builds a few windmills or puny electric cars that self-combust, which by the way, the American taxpayer paid over $100 million so that General Motors could then build factories to make electric drive systems. While we flounder about, guess who may end up being the beneficiary of our rejection of Keystone? Answer: the Chinese.

Like other liberal factions, the eco-fringe have been successful over the last thirty years in creating layers of often redundant environmental regulations at the federal, state and local level that make any energy, infrastructure or economic development project cost more and take longer to build here than in any other nation in the world. It is a sad commentary on our society that the Hoover Dam would never be built in today’s eco-fringe controlled America, nor would dozens of other energy and infrastructure projects that created millions of jobs for Americans during the depression and after WWII.

The casualties of this behavior are numerous and the beneficiary isn’t the environment. Like the union bosses who also fill the coffers of liberal politicians, it’s the leaders of the movement who turn influence into dollars for their own purposes. Millions of Americans are out of work, Keystone allegedly requires more study to ensure it’s safe, and yet Solyndra executives made millions over the past three years.

In an odd political twist, there might be common ground with the Conservative grassroots and the unions over this issue of Keystone and nuclear plants. Can you imagine using the energy infrastructure issue to drive a wedge between the unions and their allies? We might have an opportunity to fight the eco-fringe together with some of the unions and ensure the will of the American people wins the war against this home-grown extremism.