President Obama claims in his latest green energy proposal that in order to ensure we are not reliant on other countries for oil, we must take money from domestic oil companies and give it to firms developing alternative energy vehicle research. In other words, the President has proposed taxing oil producers and giving the money to industries that could put those producers out of business.

Sound like spider web logic? That’s because it is. The President is not interested in energy security, and his policies will have the opposite effect: driving out domestic oil producers and making us more reliant on foreign countries for our energy supply.

Luckily, we do not need to tax oil companies and subsidize green energy research in order to achieve energy security. In fact, the domestic energy industry is already booming, but no thanks to the President’s “energy security” efforts.

Frankly, oil production would be cheaper and more affordable if the administration got off its bureaucratic bottom and made an effort to free up oil companies to produce here at home. The White House has been doing its best to stymie domestic energy production by refusing to issue the vast majority of permits for oil production on federally-controlled lands. While private land production is on the rise, federal land production is on the decline.

Furthermore, the State Department gave the “green light” on Keystone’s environmental impact, yet the administration is still sitting on the Keystone Pipeline approval. Canada happens to be one of our closest allies and Keystone would provide affordable energy and sustainable, domestic jobs, yet the administration refuses to approve anything that increases oil production.

That’s because the White House does not seek energy security. Instead, it wants to subsidize the companies it likes, while destroying those it doesn’t. There is nothing new under the sun — this is another effort to raise taxes on gas producers and give more money to technologies that are attempting (quite unsuccessfully) to replace them. The policy ignores that there is already a free market push for cleaner vehicles and companies who are willing to develop technologies to meet this demand. 

This is America – the land where supposedly anyone can grow a business and compete, regardless of social status or government connections. Yet the Administration’s subsidies and red tape are making it impossible to do business without friends in high places and a detailed knowledge of how to work the system.