A recent newspaper account of Brian Davis slogging energy policy doesn't report the amount that he believes opening ANWR or prohibited off shore area to drilling will lower prices. Or at least the district press isn't reporting any dollar figures anywhere that we can tell.
This reticence--whether on the part of candidate or reporters--shows a lot more restraint than the pie-in-the-sky claims Davis's BFF Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann ranted about at a recent press conference:
Moving quickly to open up reserves would send a signal to markets that the United States is serious about increasing supplies, prompting prices to start going down, according to Bachmann. In four years, when newly available supplies hit the market, she said prices would decline further and again could approach $2 a gallon.
After that whopper, our friends in the Sixth found yet another reason to pause about their representative in Congress. Fortunately, the Political Muse at Liberal in Land of Conservative took a closer look at the realities of offshore drilling:
A Fact Check article in Newsweek notes that such drilling would be unlikely to have an affect until 2030:
EIA: The projections in the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.
Something that takes 22 years to deliver significant results hardly qualifies as a "short-term" solution.
From Politifact there is an article which reaches much the same conclusion:
Dr. A.F. Alhaji, an associate professor of economics at Ohio Northern University and an international expert on oil markets, said he supports offshore drilling as a long-term way to lower dependence on foreign oil and thereby improve national security.
However, he said, “I have a problem linking the drilling to current gas prices for political reasons. The reality is there is no correlation between today’s prices and what gasoline will be discovered in the outer shelf.”
Fortunately, voters in the Sixth have a more stable candidate to replace Bachmann. People in the First might ask Davis if he agrees with Bachmann's statements about the relatively immediate effects at the pump of the House Republicans signature bill, the No Excuse For This Energy Bill.
After all, Bachmann was the one trotted out for a press conference, and the bill has become know as Bachmann's plan in the state's media (despite the fact that Texan Mac Thornberry introduced it on July 17, 2007).
What will Davis say? Who knows--some ideological rambling about the divine nature of the market, most likely, with no mention of the tax breaks fueling the energy industry. But then, we're still waiting for him and his supporters to stop with the urban legends about the Chinese drilling 45 miles off the Florida coast.
Photo: BFF Bachmann and Davis. Bachmann endorsed Davis in his primary bid against Senator Day. With Rep. Kline, she'll be hosting a fundraiser for Brian Davis in the Twin Cities today. Yet another reason to sign up to volunteer for Tim Walz or contribute what you can.
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