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July 07, 2008 05:56 AM UTC

Schaffer speaks: Blames Udall for high gas prices w/ poll

  • 15 Comments
  • by: ClubTwitty

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Breaking his long silence, in which he has only recently bothered to lay out a few vague talking points positions, Not Indicted Yet Bob has finally opened his mouth.  

Seizing on the now tired Republican talking point that reducing the price of a gallon of gas by a few pennies eight years in the future (as the Department of Energy estimates might could result from opening the Arctic Refuge) is a “solution,” Bob made an appearance this past weekend to embrace oil shale, gas drilling, and the other manacles of last centuries’ fuel sources:

The NY Times is reporting that:

Republican opponents are trying to turn the Udall trademark into a black mark. They contend that the Udalls’ resistance to new drilling and to wringing oil out of Rocky Mountain shale has contributed to the energy cost squeeze.

More after the fold…

The Times reports that MIA Bob was actually seen in person  out pressing the flesh at an Independence Day celebration in Greeley.  

This is perhaps his first public notice since he talked up his genuine Colorado roots with a television ad depicting Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. Denali Bob quipped, according to the Times:

“People are angry the Udalls have worked in tandem to drive the prices up as far as they are.”

By not funding additional leasing of public lands for commercial oil shale development–before companies have even proven such is feasible on the 25,000 acres or so they have already leased in Colorado–or before these companies disclose how much water they will need to deplete from the over-allocated Colorado River Basin to produce oil that Republicans love to claim is just waiting for the pumps–the cousins apparently have thwarted good Americans everywhere.  At least according to erstwhile Silent Bob.  

As an oil company executive  and war profiteer, I’m sure it was all the talk in the board room about how to bring prices down, lower the obscene profits, and wean Americans off their product.  

Sweatshop Bob has assured us that the junket parasailing fact-finding trip to the Marianas had absolutely nothing to do with his subsequent vote to implement convicted-felon’s Jack Abramhoff’s schemes.

And I’m sure that the tens of thousands that Bob has received in contributions from Big Oil, along with the salary, would never incline him to vote for these companies’ interests over the poor Americans suffering at the pump.  

He’s laid it out as clear as drilling mud: it’s all Mark’s fault.  Thanks Bob!

Big Oil Bob

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15 thoughts on “Schaffer speaks: Blames Udall for high gas prices w/ poll”

  2. It is annoying to hear this repeated over and over and over again.  It has been shown (over and over and over again) that the Republican stance on drilling early and drilling often will not influence energy prices.

    Repeat it enough, ‘tho, people will buy it.

    1. is the weak dollar, the currency in which oil is traded. Whose fault would that be? In any case, the oil cos have leases to 68 million acres they have chosen not to develop.  Nobody, including Udall, is preventing them from drilling on those leases.  

      1. both voted to REQUIRE that companies use existing leases–or make an effort to–before opening up new public lands and minerals; Republicans blocked it.  All of Colorado’s Republicans voted against, with the exception of Tancredo, who as usual didn’t bothr to show up for work that day.

  3. and shows two things.  First, Mr. Schaffer should point to specific acts committed by Congressman Udall that has led to a situation where oil shale research was blocked.  He won’t be able to do that.  There is no point leasing land before the technology is perfected and the other issues (e.g. water) are addressed.

    Second, this is just another example of Mr. Schaffer’s and President Bush’s tired old policy that all we have to do is drill more oil wells and our energy future is secured.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The United States consumes 21 million barrels of oil each day.  If you divide that figure into all the known “technically recoverable” domestic reserves, our oil would last about 4.5 years before it was exhausted.  Our children will see the end of an energy economy based almost completely on oil.  We need an “all hands on deck” policy that addresses the many different and promising kinds of energy sources and then fully funds research into each one of them, including oil shale.

    Mr. Schaffer’s policy reminds me of MAD Magazines Alfred E. Newman’s famous statement:  “What me worry!”  Mr. Schaffer and the Republican Party once again have no faith in us, the American people, to pull ourselves together and meet the obvious challenge before us.  Our entire civilization may founder if we don’t solve the energy crisis.  Since they don’t believe in the American people or the great institutions we have erected over the past two centuries, their policy is to simply drill more oil wells and hope everything works out.  We need a policy that is based on more than just crossing our fingers.  We have the ability and the foresight to solve this problem.  All we need is leadership to do it.  Of the two senate candidates, Mr. Udall certainly is that leader.  

      1. Mr. Schaffer is bringing this up because he has nothing to offer. Schaffer, Bush, Andrews, Penry and Brophy simply don’t believe government has any role to play in our lives.  Because of that, they don’t have any policy alternatives to offer.  All they can do is attack Democrats for having policy positions even if it comes back to bite them.

      2. The Republicans are giving us a King Solomon choice to either protect the environment or protect our pocket books. Democrats like Mark Udall are offering a third solution

        Mark Udall, a leader of the Congressional renewable energy caucus who has been instrumental in slowing oil shale development, said that the technology was untested and could require huge amounts of water and power that the West could not spare.

        He said the idea that he and his cousin had a blanket opposition to added oil production was wrong. They simply want more emphasis on renewable and alternative fuels, he said, as well as more conservation, particularly given a changing Western economy built on tourism.

        “We can’t eat our scenery, but it is quite a draw,” said Mark Udall, a lifelong outdoorsman who once tried unsuccessfully to reach the summit of Mount Everest. “Everyone in our state understands that the ability to hunt and ski and fish and be outside is what really makes it special to live in the West. That is why the overemphasis of this administration on drilling at all costs is just not sustainable.“

        Don’t let Big Oil Opportunist like Schaffer and McCain fool you.

        2. because the demand for oil from India, China and other developing nations means the price will remain elevated for as far down the road as we can see.  Drilling more oil wells in the United States may marginally reduce the price but the skyrocketing demand will insure the price per barrel remains at record highs.  We simply don’t have enough domestic reserves left and we can’t drill what we do have fast enough to substantially affect the price.

          Once we do drill more oil wells (and we will), what are people like Schaffer going to say if China offers more for our oil than we ourselves are willing pay.  I’m sure he will simply say that is the free market system and then endorse drilling even more oil wells for the purpose, of course, of bringing the price down.

          What Bush and Schaffer don’t understand is we have entered the end of the oil age.  Oil is a diminishing resource at the very time demand for it has increased exponentially and will continue to increase, thus driving prices ever higher. What we need is an energy policy that aims at replacing the oil economy with other sources of energy. Burying our head in the sand and crossing our fingers that somehow drilling more oil wells will solve our long term energy needs is utter nonsense.  How we address this problem will determine whether our way of life survives. Schaffer is betting on luck. Congressman Udall is focused on using our minds and technical ability to preserve our American Way of life.  God bless him for that.

          1. The Republicans are pushing a Drain America First plan that will deplete whatever reserves we have, and when the shit really hits the fan we’ll be screwed.

            1. …since Rapture is coming any day now, we should use everything up, deplete the ozone, melt the polar ice caps, and rack up as big a deficit as possible since we’ll never need to repay it!

  4. Daschle folks made the same sort of comments about their opponent’s late start who didn’t do tv until July.  Now they call their opponent Senator Thune…  

  5. ExxonMobil eschews American energy independence…

    From June 12, 2001

    Testimony Of Virginia Lazenby-On Behalf Of The Independent Petroleum Association of America, Before The [GOP led] Committee on Science Subcommittee on Energy-U.S. House of Representatives

    This collateral damage of low oil and natural gas prices on the industry is affecting supply today and will continue to do so, until the industry has a chance to recover.

    http://www.ipaa.org/issues/tes…

    From ExxonMobil exec speech:

    Resource nationalism, either in the form of energy independence or energy superpower status, threatens to stymie innovation and slow energy development critical to continuing economic progress worldwide.

    At a time when we should open doors to trade, resource nationalism closes them. At a time when we should be building bridges of international partnership, resource nationalism builds walls.

    Resisting resource nationalism in all its forms and promoting free trade in its place is as essential to meeting the energy supply challenge as technology and partnerships.

    International oil companies need to be confident that contract terms will be honored – that the risks and rewards from a given project will be shared as agreed upon – or they will be less likely to make the needed technological upgrades or the future investments.

    ExxonMobil http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corp…

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