Marylee Shrider: Let's take a vote on energy bill
| Friday, Aug 15 2008 05:43 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 06:07 PM
Some people just don’t know when to shut up.
Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield is one of them.
McCarthy, a champ of a talker, was an early instigator behind a burgeoning House energy protest, now heading into its third exhilarating week.
In case you missed the story — and if you blinked you probably did — McCarthy was one of about 50 Republicans who took to the House floor Aug. 1 to protest Congress’ failure to vote on an energy bill before the five-week break.
Dozens of Republicans, including McCarthy, were scheduled to make floor speeches that day on gas prices and related energy issues, but were abruptly silenced when Democrats pushed an adjournment resolution that passed by a single vote.
The adjournment infuriated McCarthy and his fellow Republicans, who decided they’d have their say with or without the blessing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, until recently, refused to allow a vote on legislation that would permit new offshore oil drilling.
Lights, cameras and microphones were systematically shut off, but McCarthy and Co. talked on, speaking in the dim light and without amplification to tourists who found their way into the gallery.
Two weeks later, they’re still talking. They promise to keep talking until the speaker calls everyone back.
Dems and their media pals continue to pooh-pooh the protest as a cornball publicity stunt, but McCarthy, who was home in Bakersfield this week rustling up support for Republican efforts, said it was a call to action.
“If America was energy independent everything about our lives would change,” McCarthy says. “We’d certainly have a much different foreign policy. So let’s have the debate.”
Yes, let’s.
Let’s talk about a truly comprehensive bill that, along with tax breaks and consumer tax credits for businesses and consumers who adopt energy saving measures, includes pro-drilling amendments that will open up current restricted areas — which are about 85 percent of the areas off America’s coasts — and increase domestic oil and gas production.
Let’s consider all our options, including nuclear, which has powered our Navy for decades, McCarthy says. And let’s be a lot less timid about an environmentally friendly exploration of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“I went to Alaska and ANWR,” McCarthy says. “Every year we don’t explore there our resources are depleted by 15 percent. We know where the resources are and we can do this in an ecologically friendly way.”
There are definite signs that Pelosi may be willing to start the debate, saying on “Larry King Live” this week she would consider a vote on offshore drilling if it were part of a broader package.
I phoned Pelosi’s office to see what could have possibly inspired such a turnaround, but was assured by a Pelosi staffer (Madame Speaker is busy with a book tour) that the Republican protest “had nothing to do with it.”
Sure it didn’t.
“I’d have to ask her what transpired in that one week to change her mind,” McCarthy says. “We had to put the pressure on — one thing I’ve learned in Washington is that nothing moves without pressure.”
McCarthy’s visit home was short; he’s heading back to Washington shortly to take another turn on the House floor.
It’s too bad the lights are out. Such democracy in action is something we’d all like to see.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Marylee Shrider, not The Californian. Reach her at mshrider@bakersfiele.comor 395-7474.
