GraniteGrok

Sure, alternative energies may help going forward (just remember, if you removed the subsidies for those as well, those industries would collapse again - see 1970s).  At this point, they are not competitive in the marketplace (but only starting to be such in certain areas ONLY because of the cost of oil). 

ALSO READ: "invests" - spending your money on her kind of subsidies rather than what is really working in the marketplace.  In this case, government is the problem, not the solution.  After all, if you REALLY look into the numbers, the oil companies pay more in taxes than they make in profit.  Also, for the most part, if you took away the existing subsidies and tax credits away, the alternative energy industry would disappear (like in the 70s) unless it had big pocketed resources....like big oil companies - whose profits she wants to take - like a true socialist.

Course, stories like this reveal that at times, we really have a political problem and not an oil problem.  After all, if you increased the supply, with demand remaining the same, the price would go down (but basic micro- and macro- economics do not seem to be strong points of politicians).

You no doubt have noticed all of the headlines concerning the recent escalation in the price of oil. "Oil Price Eclipses All-Time Inflation-Adjusted High." "Gasoline Soars to near $4.00 a Gallon in Several States." "Price of Oil Driving U.S. into Recession." While these headlines caught your eye, there was another one that probably didn't: "SF County Approves Drilling Moratorium."

With a unanimous vote the Santa Fe County Commission, with the governor's full support, laid down a moratorium of at least one year on the granting of any drilling permits in the Galisteo Basin. The 100 people in attendance stood and cheered the Commission's decision. It was another victory for "NIMBY" (Not In My Back Yard) and energy obstruction groups who pretend to be solely concerned about environmental protection. The loser in this "victory" was you, the New Mexico taxpayer and America at large.

It might surprise you to know that private oil companies only control about 4 percent of world oil production. Most of earth's petroleum is supplied by unstable, non-democratic countries that are unfriendly to U.S. interests. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez openly discusses his wish to cut the United States off from his country's oil supply. The Venezuelan despot has stood hand-in-hand with Iran's dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who also despises America. Russia's Vladimir Putin has nationalized private oil and is using oil and natural gas as an economic weapon against his neighbors.

While all of this is going on, our state is making it more difficult and more expensive to produce oil and natural gas here at home. It's not just the many restrictions, such as the unnecessary year's delay in drilling in the Galisteo Basin. The state is busily throwing more and more regulatory burdens on oil and gas companies including a push toward more "closed-loop" drilling. This requirement along with demands that drillers haul off massive amounts of benign drill cuttings (dirt from the hole that was drilled) to distant landfills stands to make drilling here in New Mexico so expensive we're going to need $200 oil to pay for it. Such counterproductive requirements create an incentive for oil companies to spend their money in other states that are friendlier to this vital industry. Even worse, some oil company investors are deciding they can get a better return on their dollar by pulling their money out of domestic oil and gas altogether.

You should realize that when oil and natural gas production is denied or delayed in New Mexico that it costs you directly. Our state is heavily dependent on revenue generated by my industry. In 2006 direct state income from oil and gas production ($2.83 billion) was more than half of what was spent in the general budget. When our work is delayed or when companies who wanted to drill wells in New Mexico go to Texas, Utah or Kansas instead, that leaves a hole in the budget. Instead of having a strong state economy we have problems such as a $500 million shortfall in the transportation budget. These shortfalls inevitably lead to more of your hard-earned money going to the taxman in order to cover the gap.

I'm greatly concerned about all of this and I think you should be, too. But there is an even more ominous problem. The U.S. imports more than 60 percent of its oil supply, and domestic production is sinking fast. Most of the easy-to-produce oil has already been tapped. What's left is in hard-to-get-to places or held off limits because of political shenanigans.

The next time you hear someone saying we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil in their push for alternative energy, and then turn right around and start talking about restrictions on domestic drilling or increased taxes on American oil companies, you know they are not concerned about foreign oil at all. If we really want to pinch the hose of imported oil we're going to need a strong U.S. oil industry in addition to every solar panel, wind mill and nuclear power plant we can put up. Let's get real!

We've got a dangerous disconnect going on in this state and country when it comes to oil and natural gas. Every citizen should be alarmed when production of domestic reserves is needlessly delayed or stopped. Unfortunately, citizens are failing to see the connection between the energy we need for a strong America and how to get it.

(Author: John Byrom is president of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico)