Before I get started I want to take some time to dispel a few myths before I get started.
I am older than I look
I am not __________!
I was asked to come and speak to you today about what my vision of the ______ would be under my watch. My vision for the ______ is to bring balance, mutual respect and shared ambitions between industry and citizen. Think about it this way, protecting Texas and protecting Texas energy are one in the same, there is no difference between the two because they are a singular pursuit. It isn’t what should divide us; it is what should unite us in the common pursuit of protecting our state and securing our economic future.
One issue I have had to deal with on the trail is the people who question my ability to maintain my values, serve the needs of the people and those in the industry who worry that I will trample on their profitability. Naturally my answer is and will continue to be that there must exist a balance. Rather than fighting among ourselves we have to focus on what is best for the state and realize that our common enemy isn’t big business or the radical fringes of political parties it is the battle we face with the federal government and their pursuit of an agenda that would effectively end our ability to create jobs and generate profit based on our number one resource, Texas energy.
My opponent, the incumbent, has adopted an agenda that runs counter to most of what I have said and will say and he has done it with one of this nations most liberal anti-energy presidents in modern history.
My top three priorities moving forward are balance, balance and balance.
I believe that what the people want, what they crave is the ability to find a job, work at that job with the promise of security so they can raise their children with the idea that the American dream is in fact a reality and finally to be able to retire with dignity. In the same vein I believe that the energy industry here in Texas wants to be able to create these jobs, help educate future generations so that they will return and continue to bring the ingenuity that leads to prosperity. Realizing that the industry does not want to destroy the goose that laid the golden egg is the first step in understanding that the industries ambitions and goals can and should run parallel to the people who work for them and those who consume their products. It is a two way street but in order for the traffic to run smoothly and evenly we need a good cop on the beat and I am that cop. I can balance the needs of industry with the needs of Texans because I understand the important role both play in our future.
In order to frame my vision for the future we have to understand where we have been and what we have had to contend with.
Frederick Douglas was quoted as saying that “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” Well, we have been demanding and the power has yet to yield, instead they are doing the demanding but not at the point of a gun, YET,, but….. through an atmosphere of anti energy (oil, gas and coal specifically), which in turn has lead to higher prices at the pump. The administration is using the EPA like a gun to kill our economy and change our energy future to meet their demand.
The EPA is churning out new regulations in unprecedented number, speed and cost. The Wall Street Journal has called this EPA regulatory spree “unprecedented in U.S. history.” By the administration’s own estimates the new regulations will cost more 1 trillion dollars. And according to the deputy secretary of the EPA, they do not take into account job losses when creating and reviewing rules.
They claim this anti energy agenda or all-out assault on the oil, gas and coal industries is in the name of energy independence and environmental protection.
Over and over we have heard the steady drumbeat that we are killing our planet and that we must all bow at the altar of “Renewable” energy GOD. The reality is that renewable energy is simply not ready for prime time and it cannot shoulder the energy needs of this nation.
You cannot obtain energy independence with renewable sources of energy alone and if anyone tells you that, they lie and speak from their ideology and not from reality.
How do they want to stop Texas:
Shutdown of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico This move killed an estimated 13,000 jobs in the gulf region and 19,000 nationally by imposing that moratorium on drilling in US water. Now even after the moratorium has been lifted the slow pace of permitting is leaving experts estimate 250,000 new jobs in the gulf region of the table. Now that new regulations have been put into place, removing any excuses for restarting operations, they have begun a fight for a Sea Horse that needs magnification to see, claiming that it is an endangered species and should be considered as a factor in keeping oil production and exploration closed.
They have now declared HAY as a pollutant. The very thing we feed our cattle. They are starting enforcement action in Kansas. Texas could be next!
Declare the “Dunes Sagebrush Lizard,” or sand dune lizard an endangered species. If the administration declares this common lizard an endangered species if would effectively shut down oil production in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Costing jobs! The Permian Basin of West Texas produced 268 million barrels of oil in 2010. A friend of mine Jerry Patterson calls it a reptile dysfunction.
The sad truth is that the only thing that is becoming endangered is common sense, but I digress
Declaring the very breath we exhale as illegal and a pollutant. CO2 is not a pollutant. Global warming alarmists are debating over CO2 levels 320 ppm in the air, and OSHA does not even look at CO2 levels being harmful until it reaches 5,000 ppm. All this while CO2 levels in the US have decreased 79% since 1980.
All of this while the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit was caught manipulating climate data.
All of this while the biologist who claimed that polar bears were drowning because of melting ice from CO2 has been suspended and is being investigated for scientific misconduct. Manipulating data!
All of this while NASA’s own satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted. [Explain]
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, world’s largest centers for scientific research involving 60 countries and 8,000 scientists at more than 600 universities and national laboratories, findings were published in the journal Nature. They built a stainless steel chamber that precisely re-created the Earth’s atmosphere and demonstrate that the suns cosmic rays determine the temperature on Earth.
Further Texas has been using CO2 in enhanced oil recovery for more than 30 years. Here is Texas CO2 is commodity not a calamity.
My vision for the ______ has a different name like the ______ and three elected officials. This will continue the diversity of thought, accountability to the citizens and industry, and eliminates of the possibility for the largest oil and gas regulator in the country second only to the Department of Energy fro, having an Oil & Gas Czar. Czars are not right for Washington and they are certainly not right for Texas.
My vision for the ______ is a tiered fee and penalty structure for smaller producers giving their companies more flexibility while keeping the public trust that all are being held accountable.
My vision for the _______ is that of an agency and its commissioners that are not promoters of electric vehicles, or alternative source of energy or in anyway picking winners of losers in the marketplace, but an agency and its commissioners that are committed to accountability, an agency that stands a referee ensuring that everyone has the chance to participate and win on a level playing field.
My vision for the _______ would see limits to contributions ensuring again a level playing field, just because you have the fattest checkbook docent mean you can roll over the little guy. In a Greg Parker administration prosperity for all those willing to do the hard work, play by the rules and work for a brighter future for Texas and Texans will be the goal.
My vision includes increased transparency, modernization and a firm belief that we are accountable to not just the industry but to the sovereign state of Texas and all Texans. I believe that energy is the key to our economic recovery therefore the protection of our lands and our resources are of paramount importance.
My name is _______, I am a candidate for ________, I believe in the promise of a bright future for Texas and I am asking you for your vote