Rep. Joe Barton and two other leading House lawmakers are suffering from a potentially lethal addiction, according to a renewable energy advocacy group.
Don’t worry, though. The organization, Operation Free, says it has the perfect prescription: the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a web campaign designed to go viral, the group says Barton, R-Texas, and two other House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders have an “oil addiction disorder.” The Jib-Jab-esque video shows Barton, panel chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and John Shimkus, R-Ill., guzzling crude out of barrels wielded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Is your member of Congress suffering from oil addiction disorder? Do they deny that oil money is funding terrorism . . . or even make friends with countries that don’t like us just to get a fix?” the video asks. “If so, there is something that can help, called the EPA.”
Depicting the EPA as an addiction-curing patch, the video warns that the medication isn’t without side effects, which can include “new energy jobs . . . and greater security at home:”
The video and web campaign comes as the EPA is under attack for a series of regulatory actions — including its recently announced plan to set new standards for greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries and power plants. Lawmakers also have assailed the EPA’s decision to take over Clean Air Act permitting in Texas, approve the use of higher ethanol blends for certain vehicles and impose new requirements on industrial boilers.
The trio of Republicans targeted by the campaign are among the EPA’s most vocal critics — so odds are good they won’t be reaching for an EPA patch any time soon.
Barton is one of the lead sponsors of a measure that would block the EPA from spending any federal money to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. That proposal, offered as an amendment to a spending bill that would fund the government from March 4 through Oct. 1, is set to get a vote in the House of Representatives later today.
The campaign doesn’t mention Barton’s EPA amendment, but it does quote the Republican’s cringe-inducing apology to former BP CEO Tony Hayward last summer.
The group behind the campaign is a coalition of veterans organizations and other groups, such as the Truman National Security Project, that back policies to combat climate change.
Lawmakers aren’t oil addicts, they are lobbyist addicts. The EPA isn’t going to help America. The EPA will ruin American industry while our big American companies build refineries in Mexico to supply America’s energy demands at whopping profits without regulation. Only the smaller companies that are local to your region or city will suffer while companies like General Electric and Exxon will create a monopoly on energy thanks to your government. Ever wonder why we have the technology to create electric cars and build “green energy” and nobody does it at proper cost? Imagine, a country where you the people cannot create a company without paying high taxes or facing bureaucracy and red tape while the big fat cats are granted wavers and operate overseas stealing your jobs out from under your feet. How about you green house gas nuts wake up and write a real article for a change. The Oceans aren’t rising, the Ice caps are getting bigger, and the winters have been getting colder since 2005.
Notice how all organizations with the words free, security, for America, etc in the title are anything but? It’s time to reconstitute the committee for un American activities and rid America of the voices and policies of the non productive, communist, socialist and George Soros sponsored.
WHoeer the greengroup is that came up witht his one has arrested development.
I support Congressman barton’s efforts to defund EPA. EPA stands for ‘employment prevention agency.’
Childish cartoon for the simple-minded. Thank you for reporting on its existence at least, but we need a more grownup conversation about energy, a more grownup conversation about the environmental, and seriously need to start speaking honestly about government spending. And I think that they are all intertwined.
Since losing the House, what O’Bozo can’t get legislatively, he’ll now attempt to get by regulatory fiat, whether constitutional or not.
He’s desperate to push his progressive/socialist/Marxist agenda as far as he can since he knows that his 2012 emasculation is looming.
First one must remember that refineries in foreign countries are built to the same standards as US refineries. Just that they are free from Union labor for construction and operation and therefore make a large profit for the owners. (I know this because I worked in the industry for 40 years and built refineries in most of the world)The problem with renewable energy is that most of it takes more energy to produce than it delivers (ie Ethanol)or is not reliable (ie wind and solar). We can be energy independent if we allow nuclear power plants to be built, clean coal plants and drilling in Alaska and everywhere else that has a oil reserve. Yes we can go to other fuels but it will take 20 to 30 years and can’t be done overnight.
Odd that they talk oil addicts and greenhouse gases in the same breath but nobody talks about coal addicts. I particularly love it when they are talking about power generation and oil in the same breath which really shows they have not done their homework.
Carbon tax along with elimination of all subsidies taxes fuels not only in order of their carbon dioxide production but in order of their general pollution ranking. Use the funds resulting to cover the front end of Social Security and everybody comes out even.
Importing 60% of our oil is a grave national security issue.
We need energy independance. We need it all: Nuclear, NG, Wind, Solar, and Ethanol…..and we needed it all 20 years ago.
The Left is continuously misrepresenting reality in order to ATTACk their political opponents and they do it behind the guise of “journalism”. These people aren’t journalists… they’re democratic party operatives. Oil isn’t just a fuel source or energy source, it’s the basis of a vast majority of our everyday products. Even if we had viable alternative energy sources RIGHT NOW, oil would STILL be a major commodity.
The chomical writers are so biased in everything that they write…. Instead of just reporting the facts and letting others come to a conclusion Jennifer leads the conclusion as she puts in her bias to the story…. Is that what is taught in journalism schools today???? Do they not turn out any who know how to think and just report the facts???? Do they all have an agenda and that is to serve the LSMedia complex which supports socialism????
The Dept of Energy was established in 1976 for the express purpose of reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. Might the DOE be called a resounding success — or a pathetic failure?
Every gallon of gasoline has over 21,000 kilo-calories of concentrated energy, there are no renewable resources that will scale to what this country uses every single day in transportation fuel energy. That reality makes the talk of being energy self sufficient pointless unless your willing to change how our society works from the ground up.
The truth is that renewable energy is not cost effective. For every dollar invested oil returns $40 worth of energy. Coal, natural gas and nuclear return roughly $28. Even the best renewable sources return $10 and most are less than $5. Ethanol, returns less than $1. The focus should be on making renewables cost effective, then they will replace the other sources. Until then, the more renewables we use the greater the drain they are on our economy. So called Green jobs kill real jobs.
Really Jennifer, is this your idea of a news story?
this was neither funny, nor clever when it was posted last week, but I guess somebody got credit for writing a story, although it’s a stale cut and paste.
The EPA has no viable solution for this oil addiction, rather their cartoon can be summed up “Oil Bad EPA Good”.
How an agency charged with regulating the environment imagines itself able to replace oil and coal as our energy sources is beyond comprehension. That is unless they see their mission as putting oil and coal out of business making way for the wind, solar, ethanol, etc.
Foolish is the kindest term I can come with for this.
Even Al Gore admits ethanol was a bad idea and EPA is pushing for more?
Of course, the cartoon angle is appropriate for the left’s attention span. You know they’re coming out with a comic book to explain healthcare, right?
The true addicts are those who insist that they need a 400 HP vehicle to go to work and the grocery store and occaisionally haul a yellow dog and a few empty beer cans. It will take many years to get off the oil addiction but it has to be done by the people deciding that what we are doing is unsustainable, poiticians are too beholden to special interests who fund their re-elction campaigns.
Industry and America are no more addicted to oil than people are addicted to food. An addiction is by definition reliance on something that is harmful. As fossil fuel is the backbone of our nation’s current prosperity, it cannot be harmful, and is therefore not an addiction.
You could, on the other hand, argue that “green” industries are addicted to subsidies. These are harmful to everyone involved. They perpetually force economically and environmentally damaging wind and solar electricity that do not provide any form of reliable power. All evidence indicates that excessive (>5% of total capacity) wind power creates instability in the power grid and greatly INCREASES fossil fuel consumption versus a no-wind scenario. This is highly damaging to our nation and humanity as a whole. They have a long history of threats and flat-out lies to persuade people to fund their habit. Take the “job creation” aspect. This argument is ludicrous on its face to anyone with a modicum of education in economics. MORE JOBS TO DO THE SAME THING IS A BAD THING. This is not progress, but regress into a less efficient and poorer time.
Therefore, I propose that we break the “green” industry of their habit by force. End all wind, solar, and ethanol production subsidies. By all means fund research, but there is no justification for subsidizing production that damages our people.
All these alternative energy advocates forget to the public the truth. Truth is no matter what we do today, we will be using oil as the majority energy resource for the remainder of this century, at the absolute minimum.
EPA is little more than a taxing agent for the government. Wonder how G.E. how they was able to get around gov. regulations in their plants….. because Jeffery Immelt is Barack Hussein Obama’s new best friend….err campaign contributer. Don’t here the green crowd screaming about that.
“Renewable-energy advocates prescribe the EPA as a patch for fossil fuel ills in Congress”
Ah, I see. Regulation instead of legislation.
Renewable energy advocates show their true stripes. Enemies of freedom and democracy who want through fiat what they cannot get at the ballot box. Very revealing.
So now the Environmental Protection Agency has the ‘cure’ for replacing oil as a basic fuel?
Prove it.
Show us what the EPA can do to replace oil with something else.
Enviro extremists know nothing of environment, energy or basic government policy.
Why does a poor quality youtube cartoon get so much attention from allegedly sophiticated energy jouranlists?
That is the only question this video raises.
What idiotic boneheads!!! They claim Repubs want to fund Chavez and Ahmadinejad when the exact opposite is true: they want to open the US to more drilling so we don’t need Venezuela or Iran (or Russia, Libya, Saudi, etc.). But the conveniently leave this out. Along with the proof that renewables cannot and will not meet our needs. Look no further than the rolling blackouts a few weeks ago, thanks to the EPA taking several coal and gas-fired plants down and assuming their output can be replaced by wind and solar.
“Alternative” Energy products have had 40 years to compete in the marketplace and they have failed to penetrate because of high costs, low return on investment, as well as high complexity and fragility. So the “alternative energy” lobby now wants to cram this down out throats by fiat & regulation? Figures . . . they failed in the marketplace so now they will get “Uncle O” to muscle us around and force us to buy their lousy products.
P.S. That video is a crock of bull . . . the creators are haters!
Nothing but an article written based on ignorance.
I’m sure the EPA would love to seriously cut the amount of oil produced and used in this country. If they can drive up the price of gas to $7 or $8 a gallon, many people will no longer be able to afford to drive. This will be a great benefit to government employees with government cars burning government paid gas. It’s the same reason why all of these people fly across the globe in jets to attend global warming (aka, get rid of fossil fuels) conferences, because they know it won’t affect them. Al Gore will still be flying in private jets while his suburan sits running on the tarmac so the a/c is blowing nice and cold when he gets there. Why do people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates agree with raising taxes on the “rich”, because even if you tax those two 80%, they’ll still be running around with $5 billion. Nothing stops them from handing over $40 billion to the government right now, other than the fact that they love sounding superior by saying “raise taxes on the rich” even though it will hurt business – which means it will reduce jobs and tax revenue. Hyprocrisy rules.