Blacks: Obama, Give Up On Fossil Fuel Fight

WASHINGTON  – Black conservatives with the Project 21 leadership network say the only way to ensure America has affordable and reliable energy and can achieve the hope of energy independence is for President Barack Obama to end his war on fossil fuels and allow expanded domestic production and development of them.

These remarks from the Project 21 membership come after Obama made much of the his administration’s feeble efforts to encourage domestic production while continuing to embrace his risky alternative energy agenda during a White House press conference today.

“Obama should surrender in his war on fossil fuels,” said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli.  “The losers in his war are the American people, who are paying more and watching good jobs move abroad.  Obama could simultaneously boost employment and add to our domestic energy potential by allowing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.”

Calling the recent spike in oil prices “not a new phenomenon,” Obama said Americans need to realize the “hard truth” that this trend will continue.  While saying he was committed to boosting domestic production, he failed to address his administration’s blanket moratoriums on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and its fight against a judge’s order to rule on stalled permit applications.  He mentioned the existence of open leases, but did not address efforts to discourage permits in known locations of oil such as a remote area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.  Obama also did not discuss obtaining oil domestically from shale or natural gas from hydraulic-fracturing.  What he did reiterate was his State of the Union Address goal of generating 80 percent of electricity from “clean sources” by 2035 and lauded fuel-efficiency standards enacted in the early days of his presidency.

“Obama's rhetoric and actions suggest he is still content with keeping America dependent on foreign oil, which jeopardizes our national security and further weakens our crippled economy,” said Project 21 member Jerome Hudson.  “Why this administration fails to realize the potential for energy independence resting right under our own feet is mind-boggling.  While the Middle East melts, Obama chooses to handcuff the world’s strongest entrepreneurial spirit to a dangerous path of perpetual energy dependence and a marginalized future devoid of economic growth.”

Borelli added: “Obama must stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.  By stopping this regulatory assault on industries that meet the majority of our nation’s energy needs, Obama could remove uncertainty surrounding future costs and availability, which would encourage domestic hiring and allow people to invest and save more.”