EPA: Unelected Bureaucrats Run Amok

Despite the Obama Administration’s claims to want to wean America from foreign sources of energy, the mounting evidence says otherwise. The same administration that has enacted a moratorium on new exploration, has promised Brazilians to be their best oil customer, and declared war on the energy industry generally, has now stooped to new levels.

Shell Oil, which has already paid $2.2 billion (that’s with a “B”) for leases off the coast of Alaska, has announced that it will no longer pursue oil exploration because of a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency, a group of unelected bureaucrats unaccountable to the people.

Trixie Averill, Virginia Director of Americans for Prosperity, issued the following statement:

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that when this administration says it wants new sources of energy, it must mean it wants to harness the power of hot air. Because that’s all it is.

“How can anyone say with a straight face that he wants to avoid dependency on foreign sources of energy, while simultaneously blocking every path toward that very goal? Using a panel of unelected sycophants to enact your policies while pretending you don’t know it’s going on is not responsible, nor is it presidential.

“The blocking of oil exploration is hampering Virginia as well. If we were able to explore off our own coast, we would be able to generate billions of investment, millions in state revenue and thousands of jobs. The President of the United States is blocking this.

“Oil? Nope. Natural gas? Nope. Nuclear? Nope. Virginia? Nope.

“This is Obama’s ‘Audacity of Nope.’”