Pelosi vs. California: Speaker Defies the Will of Her Fellow Californians on More American Energy, Lower Gas Prices
Speaker's Hometown Paper: "A Majority of Californians Favor More Oil Drilling Off the Coast," Even Though Speaker Pelosi Won't Allow a Vote on More American Energy
Washington,
Jul 31, 2008 -
Some unwelcome news landed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) San Francisco driveway this morning. In a front-page story, her hometown newspaper reported that even her own California neighbors oppose her efforts to block new drilling far off American coasts to help bring down the price at the pump. The San Francisco Chronicle has the details:
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“A majority of Californians favor more oil drilling off the coast, according to a statewide survey released Wednesday, for the first time since oil prices spiked nearly three decades ago.”
“The support by 51 percent of residents polled this month by the Public Policy Institute of California represents a shift caused by renewed Republican advocacy for drilling as well as motorists' reaction to soaring pump prices, according to the pollster…”
“[A]s the price of oil hovers around $120 per barrel, double the cost a year ago, support for drilling has increased even among Democrats and independents, says the survey of 2,504 adult residents polled across the state July 8-22.”
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News of this split between Speaker Pelosi and her fellow Californians comes just a day after Democratic leaders decided to skip town for the August recess without allowing a vote on the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566), which would reduce fuel costs by increasing production of American energy, encouraging more conservation and efficiency, and promoting greater use of new and emerging alternative fuels. But the news gets even worse for the Speaker, Senators Reid (D-NV) and Obama (D-IL), and other Democratic leaders. As Politico reports this morning, rank-and-file Democrats are continuing to respond to the American people’s strong support for more American-made energy – even if it means bucking Democratic leaders:
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“A slow trickle of Democrats – particularly those facing tough elections in economically struggling states – have recently expressed openness to traditionally Republican-backed initiatives that would open up protected areas to oil exploration…”
“In 2006, Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Tim Holden voted against oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The following year, he voted to extend the moratorium on offshore drilling.”
“In a sign of how much the landscape has changed, Holden recently told a local paper in his district that he wants to ‘drill everywhere.’”
“‘I’m for offshore drilling. It needs to be part of a multipronged approach.’”
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The multi-pronged approach Rep. Holden claims to support – more conservation, more alternative and renewable fuels, and more energy production – is exactly what House Republicans have introduced as part of the American Energy Act, legislation Democratic leaders have blocked from the House floor, choosing instead to flee town and take a five-week break. In fact, Rep. Holden actually voted to adjourn for the August recess as well – perhaps under pressure from Democratic leaders, who scrambled to pass their getaway scheme on the House floor by just a single vote yesterday.
Today’s news out of California and other newspapers across the country, which continue to report strong public support for increased American energy production, confirm that not only are Speaker Pelosi and Senators Reid and Obama defying the will of the American people, they are doing so at their own peril. So are the rank-and-file Democrats, such as Rep. Holden, who claim to support more American-made energy but simply fall in line behind their liberal leaders when put to the test. Throughout the August break, House Republicans will continue holding the Democratic Majority accountable for their refusal to allow a vote on the American Energy Act – and their refusal to listen to the American people struggling with high gas prices.
