68 million lies

Democrats are justifying their moronic obstruction of domestic oil and gas exploration by claiming that there are 68 million acres of leases that are currently idle, implying that the oil industry is intentionally not producing oil to keep prices up. As usual, they are either totally misinformed or simply lying to divert the blame that they deserve for America's energy crisis. To imply that a lease that is not producing is idle ignores the many permits and mountains of red-tape required to begin production, in addition to the lengthy exploration and verification process to determine if oil is actually present. Often after much effort and more than $100 million in expense they end up with a dry hole. Just because there is a lease does not imply there is oil, a lease is just the right to look for oil that may or may not be there. After a lease is obtained, the following permits are required: Geophysical and Geological Exploration Permits, EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permits, Army Corps of Engineers permit, marine mammal/endangered species permits, in addition to the permits to drill. Then they must develop a deep water operations plan, an oil spill response plan, a hydrogen sulfide plan, and a development plan. It is more involved than just poking a hole in the ground and pumping oil, which is why it is important to open up more areas to explore NOW, and to streamline the process to keep America from running out of oil. Or we can blame the oil companies and keep sending our money overseas to pay those that want to kill us. Sadly, the democrats think the latter is the best option.