6-A


Viewpoints


March 13, 2012 - The “Times”


In My 2011 FREESTONE


401 East Commerce St. Fairfield, Texas 75840 (903) 389-NEWS


COUNTY TIMES, INC. www.FreestoneCountyTimes.com


Publisher/President: Scott W. Marsters, Sr. Editor: Karen E. Leidy


Ad Composition: Christy Jackson Senior Reporter: Mary McDonald


Reporter: R. Nicole Schaefer Ad Sales: Tonjia Scarborough


Office Manager: Natalia V. Marsters Distribution: Mick McDonald


SUBSCRIPTION RATES PER YEAR


Senior Citizens (65 or older).................$18.00 Freestone & Adjoining Counties..........$22.00 In State of Texas...................................$24.00 Out of State & Overseas.......................$26.00 Single Copy................................................75¢


Freestone County Times (USPS 020302) is published each Tuesday by Freestone County Times, Inc. at 401 East Commerce Street. POSTMASTER send address changes to Freestone County Times, 401 East Commerce Street, Fairfield, Texas 75840


Any error or erroneous reflection upon the character, standing, or reputation of persons, firms, or corporations which may appear in Freestone County Times will be corrected in the next issue once the publisher is notified. The decision to print any photo and/or article is left to the editor’s discretion. Freestone County Times is not liable for, nor does it endorse any content in any advertisement. The views expressed in articles are not necessarily those held by Freestone County


Times or its employees.


Freestone County Times encourages submission of letters to the Editor, articles and/or photographs from our readers. Letters to the Editor must be signed.


Deadline for News and Advertising is Monday at 3:00 pm of each week. TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION MEMBER 2012


ACCEPTING ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS. Opinion Drilling Can Ease Energy Woes


by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn Houston Chronicle


Last week, President Obama told


us that drilling is not the answer to rising gas prices. It’s a good thing he made those comments in Miami and not Midland. Texans are proud that our state remains the leading U.S. producer of oil and natural gas, and we know


that America has only just begun to tap the potential of its vast resources. We also know that the single biggest obstacle to greater domestic energy production is the Obama administration. Here are a few numbers the president didn’t mention in Miami: Since his inauguration, U.S. gas prices have increased by 90 percent; and last year,


 Guest Speaker: JoAnn Fleming;


Freestone County T.E.A. Party Meeting Monday, March 19, 2012 6:00 PM


Executive Director of Grassroots America We The People & Chair-Advisory Committee to the TEA Party Caucus of the Texas Legislature If you believe in the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, limited government & strong Judeo-Christian principles, please join us!


freestonecountyteaparty@gmail.com God Bless America!





                                             


according to the Associated Press, the average American household spent $4,155 on gasoline, which represented 8.4 percent of median family income, the largest portion in three decades. President Obama says there is


very little we can do about high gas prices in the short term. But that’s not entirely true. The administration could loosen access restrictions on federal lands and offshore drilling. It could end needless delays and issue more drilling permits. It could ditch E n v i r o nme n t a l Protection Agency plans to impose costly greenhouse- gas regulations that would threaten the existence of many refineries. And it could stop making abusive power grabs under the Clean Water Act. Indeed, if the president is


serious about looking “for every single area where we can make an impact” on gas prices, as he pledged in his Miami speech, he must reverse the regulatory overreach of the past three years. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that EPA alone “is moving forward with 31 major economic rules and 172 major policy rules” that affect our energy supply


- “an unprecedented level of regulatory action.” Texans know this all too well.


Our state provides more than a quarter of America’s total refining capacity. Last month, I met with refinery workers in Port Arthur who expressed concern about the future of their livelihood. They were particularly upset that the Obama administration had rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, which would terminate in the Port Arthur region and


‘Last week, President Obama told us that drilling is not the answer to rising gas prices. It’s a good thing he made those comments in Miami and not Midland.’


allow our state to refine an extra 700,000 barrels of oil each day. Meanwhile, many folks in


West Texas are worried about a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to list the sand-dune lizard as an endangered species. Such a listing would threaten the jobs of nearly 27,000 Texans who work in the Permian Basin, which is home to more than one-fifth of the top 100 oil fields in America. All across our state, Texans are being forced to make difficult sacrifices. Family budgets have been squeezed. Savings have been depleted. Trips have been


canceled. And parents are working overtime to keep up with soaring transportation costs. At a time of high unemployment, spiraling deficits and geopolitical unrest, misguided federal regulations are costing us private-sector jobs and public- sector revenue, contributing to greater U.S. spending on imported oil, and driving up prices at the pump. According to the Congressional Research Service, our country has more recoverable energy resources Canada,


than


and Saudi Arabia combined.


China As


American Enterprise Institute


Kenneth Green has noted, the Outer


Continental Shelf of the U.S. alone contains “enough oil to fuel 85 million cars for 35 years.” Yet more than 97 percent of that territory is not under lease. Rather than demonizing oil and


gas companies that collectively employ millions of hard-working Americans, while wagering more taxpayer dollars on boondoggles like Solyndra, the Obama administration should take its regulatory boot off the neck of our domestic energy producers. Cornyn, a Republican, is the junior U.S. senator from Texas. ________________________


scholar


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  


  


  


   





  


                





 





 


 


   


  


  


   


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