HERE COMES TROUBLE

We've had friends visiting for the past week and yesterday we took them to a lovely central Florida secret - Wekiwa Springs.  It's a great place to go in the summer.  The spring is a cool 72 degress year round and bubbles up into a perfect, crystal clear swimming basin that is surrounded by an ampitheater-like grassy area that is great for picnics.

Today, however, was not a perfect day. 

Shortly after we got settled and the kids hit the water, I was approached by two people with clipboards. 

"Hi there!  Do you support green energy?"  one chirped at me perkily.  I noticed their clipboards had :"Repower America" stickers on it.  Oh goodie - minions of the Goracle, out to preach to the masses. 

Not wanting the day ruined with their "green" drivel, I politely told them I thought that we weren't ready for green energy yet and before they could try to sell me further, the fates smiled upon me and my cell phone rang. Saved by the bell!  It turns out they were going around getting info and signatures for letters to be sent to Florida's federal representatives demanding that they pass the pending Cap and Tax legislation

A little while later, they were talking to a group of teenagers who were sitting near me.  None of the kids were old enough to vote, but they were Florida residents, so that was good enough, apparently.  Those greenies sure do love uninformed youth!  The two envirovangelists started in on their spiel, talking about how important passing the legislation is.

It is a rare event to hear such bald-faced lies told so brazenly and with such conviction. Not only did they watch President Obama's speech the other night, they memorized it.  You name a talking point from that speech, and they brought it up.  Wind turbines - check.  Solar energy - check.  Dependence on foreign oil - check.

Then they started in on the gulf spill.  They blamed the evil oil companies, and asked, rhetorically, of course, why the kids thought they were drilling a mile under water and even further into the sea floor.  "As deep as Everest is high" was the quote. 

At this point, I couldn't resist piping up with an answer - "because the environmentalists have pushed them out that deep".  Two of the kids looked over; one of them snickered into his hand.  Ms. Perky glared, took a breath and kept going. 

According to her (and Obama, as per his speech), we are drilling into mile-deep water because we have no more oil anywhere else, and that this is our last resort for trying to stop billions of dollars going to foreign countries that don't like us because we stubbornly refuse to switch to green energy.  Confronted by that doozie, I was unable to clench my jaw fast enough to keep from blurting out "Well, that's an outright lie!"  More glares came my way, of course, and they started pushing harder for signatures.

Long story short, two of the kids signed on, two declined.  Ms. Perky and her partner in crime scurried off, glaring at me all the while, and I didn't see them for the rest of the afternoon.  The lady camped out in front of me turned and smiled at me, saying that she was going to step in and say something, too, if I hadn't beaten her to it.  She made it clear that if a discussion had ensued, she would have had my back.  I've been hearing that more and more these days.  I'm also hearing more and more people speaking up when confronted with such blatant misinformation.  It's a wonderful thing.

The level of lies misinformation is quite staggering, really.  It simply boggles the mind that these people are trying to say that we have no natural resources.  They are fond of saying that we use 20% of the world's oil each year, but only have 2% of the natural reserves.  Makes it seem like we're going to run out tomorrow, doesn't it?  Which is the point, really. Nothing like a little fear to sell  the agenda.  The Goracle has made a fortune off it, and stands to make a whole lot more.  So is it true?  According to Kiplinger Magazine, in a word, no:

The U.S. is sitting on the world's largest, untapped oil reserves -- reservoirs which energy experts know exist, but which have not yet been tapped and may not be attainable with current technology. In fact, such untapped reserves are estimated at about 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand -- at today's levels -- for auto, truck, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.

Not all of the oil is readily available, but the amounts that are are quite startling (via American Thinker):

The report acknowledges that the available oil reserves could be much larger, but the 3.0 to 4.3 billion figure represents oil recoverable right now with today's technology. In fact, there may more than 100 billion barrels eventually recoverable with continued developments in the technology necessary to extract the oil.

Then there is the most famous government-blocked area of oil reserves, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuges (ANWR). With 10 billion barrels available, ANWR is the most accessible of the major untapped oil reserve locations in the United States, and claims are that this oil could be extracted in a way that would have minimal negative environmental impact.

So while technically correct in saying that America is running out of places to drill for oil, those who push this line of spin are being disingenuous at best.  The reason we are running out of places to drill is purely due to the environmentalists and their political cronies who are making it impossible for us to tap into our natural resources so that they can force us into green technologies that aren't ready for mass implimentation.

They are doing this by refusing to open up coastal areas for drilling, making ANWR off limits, and by confiscating massive tracts of land over inland oil reserves.  Quite frankly, the whole scheme is reprehensible.  They are willing to strangle us into submission to forward their green agenda, when salvation is right under our feet.  Freedom from foreign oil, freedom from funding those who hate us, and freedom to exploit our natural resources in a safe way until we can ease into green alternatives. 

I have no gripe with going green, but the fact is that we are just not ready.  I am simply unwilling to allow Washington to cripple me with even more taxes to promote an unrealistic agenda that isn't ready for implimentation in a large city, let alone an entire country of 310 million.  I refuse to pay $10 a gallon for foreign oil when there are billions of untapped barrels right here in this country.  I object to my utility bill "necessarily skyrocketing" so that Obama and the Goracle can pat themselves on the back and get rich as our economy collapses under their unrealistic pipe dreams.

Am I disappointed that two of the kids signed the petition?  Not at all.  Before I piped up, all four had clipboards in hand, ready to sign on.  After all, if you oppose the green agenda, you're not only not cool, but you are practically an ecoterrorist.  The fact that I managed to put a kernel of doubt in two of those young minds was victory enough.  Hopefully they went home today and started checking the facts.  That's all we can do - speak up and hope that people take the initiative to look for the facts themselves.

Facts the government is fully aware of:

In fact, our own government has acknowledged the vast oil resources available to us. In an April 2008 study conducted by the United States Geological Survey, the group began its press release with the following: "North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation."

Let's not forget, too, the roadblocks environmentalists have put up against many green alternatives, such as solar panels in the desert, wind turbines, ocean wave farms and nuclear power plants.  Apparently there are those in the movement who seem to think that the country can be powered by rainbows and unicorn flatulence, because they sure aren't leaving many other options. 

The administration's attempt to politicize the oil spill to get a win for the agenda is shameless.  Not only won't Cap and Trade do anything to affect the spill or cleanup it is taking advantage of, it will also damage our already fragile economy with a dramatic increase in utility bills and taxes.  Unfortunately, Repower America and the various other appendages of the political elite are out in force and they are on a self-appointed mission to save the world.  The ground forces have been deployed and the push is on.  Pesky facts aren't going to stand in their way!

And on this one, don't expect a loss in November to stop them.

HERE COMES TROUBLE