The Obama Administration talks a lot about “energy independence.” This is evidently empty rhetoric because none of the energy initiatives undertaken could ever lead to energy independence in the US. The Administration initiatives are primarily directed at generation of electric power, an area in which the United States currently is truly “independent.” Foreign oil is used for transportation, not for generation of electricity. There are no serious initiatives that could make the United States’ transportation independent of foreign oil. There is talk of transition of electric powered vehicles, but that would take many years of cultural change just for personal automobiles, and is simply not practical for large transport vehicles like 18-wheelers (or even pick-ups). The Obama Administration talks about becoming the world leader in “green” energy, and points to alleged green development activity in China. The Chinese may indeed be working on wind turbines, but they are also buying energy all over the world, including in the US. I think that is because they know that hydrocarbons will be the dominant energy source, particularly for transportation, well beyond the 21st century. Estimates are that Obama’s “green” policy requires a gasoline price of $7/gal to succeed. The Obama Administration does not seem to recognize, or to care, that an American economy relying of hyper-expensive “green” energy cannot compete with the economies running on much less expensive oil. Timing is critical, and transitioning to “green” energy too soon will lead to bankruptcy, and thus is suicidal. This Obama energy policy may be part of the ”Cloward-Pivens” strategy to destroy the economy of the United States.

The Obama Administration could achieve energy independence for transportation fuel with an aggressive policy of drilling for oil and natural gas. But, instead the Obama Administration works to prevent development of oil and gas resources. They put off limits drilling in areas that are controlled by the federal government, such as lands owned by the government and coastal waters. At the same time, the Obama Administration is loaning money to Brazil for development of their off-shore oil. And, China and Russia are drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico off of the coast of Cuba in areas ceded to Cuba by the inept Jimmy Carter. The Obama Administration would like to ban hydraulic fracturing that is used to extract oil and gas from shale in areas not owned by the government. Here is some discussion about the Obama energy policy.