Tom DeLay’s energy analysis

Tom DeLay, whose default setting is bash mode, offered this thoughtful analysis of our energy predicament on yesterday's This Week (video on the left sidebar):   We are paying the price of Democrat policies. The Democrats have stopped us from developing American oil and American gas in this country. They've stopped us from drilling in ...

Tom DeLay, whose default setting is bash mode, offered this thoughtful analysis of our energy predicament on yesterday's This Week (video on the left sidebar):  

Tom DeLay, whose default setting is bash mode, offered this thoughtful analysis of our energy predicament on yesterday's This Week (video on the left sidebar):  

We are paying the price of Democrat policies. The Democrats have stopped us from developing American oil and American gas in this country. They've stopped us from drilling in Alaska and [off the shores] of Florida and California, the huge reserves of oil shale and natural gas in the west. If President Clinton had signed drilling in ANWR [The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve] back in the nineties we would be enjoying a million [more] barrels a day. And that would have an impact on gas prices.

Stephanopoulos: A relatively small [amount]

DeLay: It's not relatively small. A million barrels per day is pretty significant. It's exactly what we're losing in the Middle East.    

Just two points on this matter:

1.) Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Mel Martinez aren't Democrats. They're Republicans who oppose drilling off the shore of the coast of Florida. In 2000, both governor and president Bush went after John Kerry, who had said something interpreted as an endorsement for offshore drilling. Said Governor Bush: "All his allies better teach him a thing or two about environmental policy before he aspires to be president of the United States." 

This is just one example of how the offshore drilling debate isn't simply a Democrat/Republican issue. If you go and look at the debates over drilling in places such as Louisiana, Alaska, Colorado, etc. you'll find it breaks down differently in different places.

2.) Yes, ANWR's reserves are "pretty significant" in today's supply/demand climate. It doesn't mean that the cost/benefit analysis should be tossed out the window. There is a range of policy options, and shaving a percent or two off of consumption growth isn't that hard. The LA Times adopts a more pure environmental line than I would adopt, but it correctly notes

[I]t's misleading for drilling advocates to indicate that the Arctic refuge is the key to our energy security. At best, it would produce only 1% to 2% of the nation's oil consumption annually for the life of the field. Cumulatively, other sources offer much greater potential.

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.