- Personal Liberty Digest - http://www.personalliberty.com -
By John Myers On January 12, 2011
Welcome to 2011; another year for President Barack Obama, whose energy policies are dictated not from the White House but from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
Obama’s Christmas gift to the nation was the December announcement by the President himself to clamp down further on domestic oil and gas drilling. Welcome to the New Year where pump prices now average more than $3 per gallon.
Despite the worst recession since the Great Depression, we are paying the highest gas prices since 2008. All thanks to Obama’s need to go Green, which is enriching Arab oil producers while putting America’s future at risk.
Obama regulators have been busy slipping in ill-advised energy policies. First came the pre-Thanksgiving announcement that oil exploration and drilling in Alaska would be curtailed. All for a good cause, said the Obamaites, to help save vast expanses of polar bear habitat. Then Obama’s Department of the Interior made a pre-Christmas policy change that would further cut domestic oil supplies by making energy-rich lands untouchable.
It seems that Obama forgot that designating Federal lands as wilderness areas was supposed to require an act of Congress. Yet the day before Christmas Eve, Obama’s Department of the Interior did a coup d’état. As a result, the Obama administration alone is able to judge where oil can or cannot be drilled. In doing this, Obama has thwarted George W. Bush’s policy that restricted unilateral action by the White House.
Then there is the drilling in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. Nearly three months after the Obama administration lifted its ban, oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well in the Gulf. In fact, the petroleum industry expects the wait to continue until the second half of 2011, and perhaps well into 2012.
This long delay by the Obama administration is costing Big Oil billions of dollars that they have tied up in Gulf projects; projects that are now on hold while petroleum companies pay out thousands of dollars every day on rigs that stand idle.
Last week the Wall Street Journal wrote this indictment of Obama’ energy policy:
“Their impact goes beyond the oil industry. The Gulf coast economy has been hit hard by the slowdown in drilling activity, especially because the oil spill also hurt the region’s fishing and tourism industries. The Obama administration in September estimated that 8,000 to 12,000 workers could lose their jobs temporarily as a result of the moratorium; some independent estimates have been much higher.
“The slowdown also has long-term implications for U.S. oil production. The Energy Information Administration, the research arm of the Department of Energy, last month predicted that domestic offshore oil production will fall 13 percent this year from 2010 due to the moratorium and the slow return to drilling; a year ago, the agency predicted offshore production would rise 6 percent in 2011. The difference: A loss of about 220,000 barrels of oil a day.”
All of which leaves America more susceptible to an Arab oil embargo. The last one happened in the 1970s when the U.S. was pumping twice as much oil as it is now.
With the U.S. gulping more foreign crude than ever, Arabs could bring America to its knees. You would think that a President as smart as Obama would understand the risk he is putting the nation in; a nation which he has sworn to protect.
Perhaps the greatest waste of American resources is out West where there is potentially hundreds of millions of barrels in oil reserves and trillions of cubic feet in gas deposits; all of it just waiting to be drilled and pumped to a thirsting nation. Yet our President is obstructing America from meeting its energy needs.
Ben Lieberman of The Washington Times explains:
“Utah is particularly hard hit, with up to 6 million acres in jeopardy of being locked away from development. Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah Republican, told The Salt Lake Tribune, “[This decision will seriously hinder domestic energy development and further contribute to the uncertainty and economic distress that continues to prevent the creation of new jobs in a region that has unduly suffered from this administration’s radical policies.”
But there is more. Two days before Christmas the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) undertook a Pearl Harbor-like pre-emptive attack on U.S. refiners with an order that will place severe limits on carbon-dioxide emissions. The EPA, in language Joseph Stalin would have been proud of, said: “The details have yet to be determined.”
The Moroccan Candidate
The bottom-line is that under Obama, Washington is certain to increase the cost of converting oil into gasoline. If you are looking forward to spending $5 per gallon at the pumps, you will love Obama’s bold new move to make America more green.
The $5 per gallon is not just a number I picked out of the air. The former president of Shell Oil says that’s entirely possible as high demand pushes the price of crude oil higher and higher.
Culminating some time by the third quarter of 2012, retail pump prices in places like California and New York will reach roughly $5 per gallon, said former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister.
Former energy secretary Bill Richardson was asked about Hofmeister’s stark prediction: “I hope he’s wrong, but this is a very volatile energy market and we haven’t moved as fast as we should in America towards reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.”
Hofmeister underscores the urgent need to develop domestic oil production and he even accuses the Obama administration of being anti-oil.
“I have no problem moving beyond oil but not today, not tomorrow, not 2011 or 2012. We can’t. It’s simply impractical and unreal,” Hofmeister said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) has put out a statement saying it will continue to pursue responsible oil and gas production while focusing on vehicle efficiency standards and investing in electric vehicles, bio-fuels and mass transit.
Obama’s DOE must think America alone can make the Earth green. What the President seems to forget is the fact that China, India and Russia, along with a host of Third World polluters, are using coal and even wood furnaces to drive their industries.
It appears to me that Obama’s Green policies are nothing more than collateral damage to a nation that needs domestic petroleum and the jobs that that industry provides. Instead Obama’s policies seem to be helping Arab oil exporters.
If you think I exaggerate, consider this from the Dec. 29 Economist, not known as a bastion of conservative ideals: “Mr Obama’s team of managing the Middle East is even more inept than Mr Bush’s. The American right and many Israelis think he is too pro-Arab.”
Dubya Billboard: “MISS ME YET?”
People in the petroleum industry don’t believe Obama is pro-North America, at least not when it comes to energy. Canada’s oil sands — which help keep America on the road every day—have been labeled “dirty oil” by Obama Democrats (as if the crude they pump out of the Saudi desert was somehow clean). And given the political realities that exist in many parts of Alaska, Sarah Palin has a greater chance of hitting a gusher with an errant shot from her AR-15 than Big Oil has with a drill-bit.
Despite Bush’s multiple mistakes in the Middle East, he was a patriot who at least wanted to ramp up domestic oil and gas production. That’s not true of Obama, who seems intent on increasing America’s dependency on Arab oil.
As I write to you, oil has topped $90 per barrel. I believe that by summer it will break over $100 per barrel. That makes Big Oil a good investment. But at what cost?
Under Obama’s presidency we are headed for an energy crisis worse than anything President Jimmy Carter could have engineered. Just how high oil prices will go I don’t know. Much depends on what happens in the 2012 election.
Yours in good times and bad,
John Myers
Myer’s Energy and Gold Report
http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/government/obamas-ultimate-betrayal/print/
Showing posts with label Regulators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regulators. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Hill
Regulators to hash out major new finance regulations this month
Financial regulators are set this month for a series of crucial meetings and decisions as they hash out major new U.S. and international rules that might govern the financial world for years to come.
And as they convene in Washington and Basel, Switzerland, regulators from around the world are coming under heavy lobbying pressure by the financial industry not to overreach while the global economy remains weak.
In the United States, regulators are starting to lay out how they will oversee "systemic risk" and firms deemed "too big to fail." The Obama administration is also facing pressure from Democrats and consumer advocates to quickly nominate the first head of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created as part of the Wall Street reform bill.
In Basel, international regulators aim to strike a deal on new capital standards — known as Basel III — that will impact the world's largest banks and financial firms.
"Everything else flows from here," said Scott Talbott, senior vice president at the Financial Services Roundtable. "Once you have a CFPB head, you can start defining rules. Once you have Basel III, we'll know capital levels. And once you have the systemic risk council, the regulations can flow. These are major milestones."
The Basel discussions might receive the most attention as financial officials look to forge standards before the heads of the G-20 nations meet in November in Seoul. Discussions are set for Tuesday, with U.S. officials urging higher capital and liquidity standards and requirements for banks to hold more capital.
"Stronger capital standards are absolutely essential as one of the key components going forward to assure the safety of the system," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to a commission investigating the causes of the financial crisis.
But overcoming international differences is a formidable obstacle, with various governments looking to shape the rules so they do not disproportionately hurt their domestic financial markets.
Meanwhile, a U.S. council of financial regulators charged with overseeing "systemic risk" is set to meet for the first time in September. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who serves as chairman of the council, said in August he planned to use the first meeting to lay out a roadmap for implementing new regulations.
The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other regulators have already begun to hold meetings, propose new rules and, in some cases, adopt new regulations. But the council meeting will mark the first time regulators meet in full as a public body.
Wayne Abernathy, executive vice president at the American Bankers Association, said the council meeting will be an important juncture to understand how regulators attempt to collaborate as they implement new rules.
"The council was not given the responsibility to coordinate the implementation of Dodd-Frank," he said, using the shorthand for the financial reform bill. "I think there has been an effort by Geithner to step into that role."
The council also holds the power to determine whether large non-bank financial companies should face more stringent oversight from the Federal Reserve. The council will base its determinations on 11 factors, including a firm's leverage, interconnectedness and the value of its assets.
The financial industry is closely watching those deliberations. Companies including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ford Motor Credit have already begun meeting with the Federal Reserve and other regulators as they look to enact new rules on derivatives and other financial products.
The administration will also face renewed calls in September from Democratic allies to nominate a consumer agency head before the party suffers expected losses in the midterm elections.
Many congressional Democrats, labor unions and consumer advocates have been pushing hard for Obama to nominate Elizabeth Warren.
But Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has publicly questioned if Warren, a Harvard professor and champion of the agency, could win the 60 votes necessary to overcome procedural hurdles.
The White House has said repeatedly she is among the candidates under consideration but the president has not yet made a decision.
The Senate would have about a month to consider a potential nomination before recessing for the elections. If the Senate does not act before the recess, the stakes might quickly increase after Election Day.
Winners in special Senate elections in Delaware, Illinois and West Virginia will be seated immediately after Election Day, rather than in January.
Republican Rep. Mike Castle is considered the frontrunner for the Delaware seat and the Illinois race is a tossup, meaning Democrats might hold two fewer votes for a confirmation battle in a lame-duck session of Congress.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/corporate-governance/117331-regulators-to-hash-out-major-new-finance-rules-this-month
Financial regulators are set this month for a series of crucial meetings and decisions as they hash out major new U.S. and international rules that might govern the financial world for years to come.
And as they convene in Washington and Basel, Switzerland, regulators from around the world are coming under heavy lobbying pressure by the financial industry not to overreach while the global economy remains weak.
In the United States, regulators are starting to lay out how they will oversee "systemic risk" and firms deemed "too big to fail." The Obama administration is also facing pressure from Democrats and consumer advocates to quickly nominate the first head of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created as part of the Wall Street reform bill.
In Basel, international regulators aim to strike a deal on new capital standards — known as Basel III — that will impact the world's largest banks and financial firms.
"Everything else flows from here," said Scott Talbott, senior vice president at the Financial Services Roundtable. "Once you have a CFPB head, you can start defining rules. Once you have Basel III, we'll know capital levels. And once you have the systemic risk council, the regulations can flow. These are major milestones."
The Basel discussions might receive the most attention as financial officials look to forge standards before the heads of the G-20 nations meet in November in Seoul. Discussions are set for Tuesday, with U.S. officials urging higher capital and liquidity standards and requirements for banks to hold more capital.
"Stronger capital standards are absolutely essential as one of the key components going forward to assure the safety of the system," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to a commission investigating the causes of the financial crisis.
But overcoming international differences is a formidable obstacle, with various governments looking to shape the rules so they do not disproportionately hurt their domestic financial markets.
Meanwhile, a U.S. council of financial regulators charged with overseeing "systemic risk" is set to meet for the first time in September. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who serves as chairman of the council, said in August he planned to use the first meeting to lay out a roadmap for implementing new regulations.
The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other regulators have already begun to hold meetings, propose new rules and, in some cases, adopt new regulations. But the council meeting will mark the first time regulators meet in full as a public body.
Wayne Abernathy, executive vice president at the American Bankers Association, said the council meeting will be an important juncture to understand how regulators attempt to collaborate as they implement new rules.
"The council was not given the responsibility to coordinate the implementation of Dodd-Frank," he said, using the shorthand for the financial reform bill. "I think there has been an effort by Geithner to step into that role."
The council also holds the power to determine whether large non-bank financial companies should face more stringent oversight from the Federal Reserve. The council will base its determinations on 11 factors, including a firm's leverage, interconnectedness and the value of its assets.
The financial industry is closely watching those deliberations. Companies including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ford Motor Credit have already begun meeting with the Federal Reserve and other regulators as they look to enact new rules on derivatives and other financial products.
The administration will also face renewed calls in September from Democratic allies to nominate a consumer agency head before the party suffers expected losses in the midterm elections.
Many congressional Democrats, labor unions and consumer advocates have been pushing hard for Obama to nominate Elizabeth Warren.
But Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has publicly questioned if Warren, a Harvard professor and champion of the agency, could win the 60 votes necessary to overcome procedural hurdles.
The White House has said repeatedly she is among the candidates under consideration but the president has not yet made a decision.
The Senate would have about a month to consider a potential nomination before recessing for the elections. If the Senate does not act before the recess, the stakes might quickly increase after Election Day.
Winners in special Senate elections in Delaware, Illinois and West Virginia will be seated immediately after Election Day, rather than in January.
Republican Rep. Mike Castle is considered the frontrunner for the Delaware seat and the Illinois race is a tossup, meaning Democrats might hold two fewer votes for a confirmation battle in a lame-duck session of Congress.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/corporate-governance/117331-regulators-to-hash-out-major-new-finance-rules-this-month
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
