Well, hello. Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program. Back on October 5th, the White House said something -- By the way, final episode June 30th. Eight shows left. Don't miss a single one. --
Tonight we're gonna talk about energy, because on the 5th of October, the Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, made America an exciting promise, and here it is
[video]
Oh goodness! [Beck gets on his knees.] When I heard this, I said, Thank you, Jesus, for having a hot water tank powered by the sun on the top of the White House! 'Cause that's gonna make all of the difference in the world -- we're fixed, America! That's how upside down this White House is.
By the way, look at the clock. We're officially end of the Spring. Ha. Lemme show you what it looks like [screen of WH] where on the top of the-- I don't see it. Where are the solar panels? Must be an old picture? Tiffany, is this an old picture?
Tiffany: waahwaahwaahwaah
Brand new picture. So, I don't know where the solar panels are. Maybe it's a different Spring. Maybe it's camouflage. MAYBE they didn't do it because it's bullcrap from the beginning! Whaddya think? No solar panels, even though this White House solar panel project was, quote, designed to accelerate deployment of solar technologies. Now, I know it's been 259 days since the anouncement, but let me defend the president here. That may seem like 259 days, if I bought the solar panels and they weren't up on my roof yet, I'd be a little pissed. But. Remember. 259 days in union time, that's like ten minutes.
Tonight, the administration's attack on our most reliable and needed energy sources all in the name of Going Green. Oh, and the extra little added bonuses of how our businesses are suffering because of it. C'mon.
DUN DUN DEHN DUN
[Full audience, clapping.] Oh boy, look at 'em. Look at 'em. Some of these people in this audience, Big Oil people. Yeah. Big Coal people. Some of them, businessmen. Hohoho. Don't worry, we've alerted the authorities.
Hello, America. The president spoke today at the DNC -- actually, I think it was yesterday -- his 30th fundraiser of the year. Just a little perspective: the last president at this point in his reelection period had three fundraisers. 30 for this one. The White House has released a transcript for the fundraiser.
Believe it or not, it is not edited. It is right there on whitehouse.gov -- Drudge caught this and posted it, and I want to show you the remarks by the president and it was... and it ended in laughter.
That's funny. Man, that's funny. Ignoring the pain of the American people, and the horrific economy, and the 9.1% unemployment, all the companies shutting down, people struggling just to put food on the table or have gas in their car. Man, that's FUNNY, Mr. President. You're a riot!
[Editor's Note: Later on Fox News, Bret Baier reported that the White House called this a typo and updated the transcript.]
Speaking of riots -- which are coming soon -- at the same event, Obama also talked about energy. Here's what he said, quote
Oh, he's done that. Yes. We don't even think about energy in this country anymore. Whatever spills out of that socket there? It's a magic wall-box. I don't even know how that energy gets in there. Came with the house, I think. The primary energy sources the Americans rely on to operate and function -- you know, for the blender when they're making daiquiris at those really swank functions at the White House -- are now treated as enemies. The companies that provide them are now treated as enemies.
The FTC has launched yet another investigation into Big Oil.
Regulators are, quote, "examining whether oil companies, refiners, or traders have manipulated crude-oil markets" caused the increase in gas prices. This is so weird, 'cause they don't have any evidence. In fact, I've got a stack of evidence on what IS causing the problem. But, no, they're involved in a political witch hunt.
Back in April, Obama created a joint task force of the Justice Department and the FTC to investigate the oil and gas markets. They haven't found anything, but they're determined to get to the bottom of these Outrageous! Prices! Now, America, if you have a clue on what's causing these outrageous prices, could you do me a favor and put them in a box, and just send them to the White House? Put all those clues there... It'd be like they have a box of clues. It's be like, Oh I don't know, I don't have a box of clues-- ding ding!, the post office will deliver it.
Box of clues. What do ya think? Put in that box, maybe, a president who says, making energy prices skyrocket is "necessary"? I know, the odds of finding something that obvious -- really slim. Especially if you work for the Justice Department. Maybe you have a chance of finding out if maybe, I don't know, a printing press somewhere where they're printing up money and oil is pegged to the dollar, so if you devalue the dollar, your energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket", wouldn't they, Mr. President? Maybe you could find an out of control government agency going out of their way to shut down coal plants, like the EPA.
Their new stricter regulations have already caused one of the country's larger power companies, the American Electric Power, to close at least five plants.
That will cost us hundreds of jobs and invest 6 billion dollars to meet the new requirements of coal. By the way, a new one in San Antonio just announced it's going to close shop because of the stricter regulations as well. [screen picture of CPS energy.]
Quote, "It was a decision really driven by expectations that we're going to face more challenging environmental regulations" (Spokeswoman Lisa Lewis, 21 June).
Cass Sunstein, is that you? Oh, you're crazy.
An executive at that plant expects more to follow soon. Now, the timing at that plant couldn't be better, because this economy is about to rocket... and then blow up. Couldn't be better in the timing. In Texas, especially. You remember Texas, the state that's creating 50% of the jobs now? Texas population is booming, power companies are struggling to keep up with the increased demand. Texas has 19 coal powered plants, more than any other state. Don't forget -- creating half the jobs that Obama was joking about at his fundraiser.
You might hate coal. You might think to yourself, 'man, I always hated it when Santa was gonna bring it to me.' You might hate it with everything in you. But every time you turn on your light in your home, you should fall to your knee and say, 'thank you, coal.'
[screen: pie chart of 2009 U.S. Electricity Generation]
Coal is used to generate about half of the electricity consumed in the United States. [Gets close to camera.] Here's an idea, you environmentalist wackos. Ban coal. But before you do that, I want you to use half the electricity in your own life, in your own home, in your own office, and tell me how sweet it really is. And don't wait for the Obama Administration to put the solar panel, you know, hot water heater on the roof first. Lead by example, you weinies.
Okay, coal. Coal is the largest domestically produce source of energy. Half of our electricity, largest source. [new screen: line graph of energy consumption by major source.]
Why would our president make it harder for us to gain access to our most easily accessible gained energy in the middle of an economy teetering on the brink of disaster? What do you think? Why would he want to do that? I know he wants everybody to have a windmill in their front lawn, and I'm hoping mine comes really soon. I'm gonna put it in after my solar panel on the roof. And I have my car plugged into the roof, thank you GM.
But the technology is not there for all of those things to happen. Talk to GM. The government cannot force innovation. It does not work. And by the way, if I plug my car in, because of evil oil, I'm not gonna do that [oil], where does the electricity come from for the car?? Out of the magic box on the wall? A coal powered plant.
Now, let's see if any of these policies on energy this administration is making any sense whatsoever. Here is America's overall energy consumption breakdown:
Petroleum: 37% -- evil oil, hate those guys.
Natural Gas: 25% -- I don't know what to think, nobody's said anything about them yet.
Coal: evil.
Nuclear: dangerous and evil.
Renewable: 8% -- perfect.
How are we gonna survive? I just showed you the war on coal from this administration. They're shutting down the plants and doing exactly what the president said he would do. Oil, our top overall energy source, and what is the administration doing? Relentlessly investigating, threatening to take windfall profits, making it harder for them to get more domestic oil. The gulf -- the BP spill -- the administration put a moratorium on off-shore drilling in the gulf. The longer this went on, the harder it got for local companies to keep their doors open. We've lost jobs. We've lost all kinds of things. Tens of thousands of jobs. Skyrocketing gas prices. And then the president says, 'I'm gonna putt that out." Yeah, try to get one.
While the shares of major U.S. oil companies have tanked, Petrobras, Brazil's main oil company, oh they're doing great. Of course, the president went down there and said we're gonna be their biggest customer. How about a policy where everybody else is our biggest customer? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I'm kinda fresh out of checkbooks.
Oddly enough, George Soros had his largest holding in Petrobras.
Three months after the BP spill, Soros dumped his shares in the company. Then when his eyes started wandering around and our eyes stopped looking at him, guess what happened? He increased his holdings again in Petrobras, to more than a million shares. Ha-wha?
Just those two sources -- coal and petroleum -- are 60% of our total energy, and they're under attack. Oh, I know. Everybody who hates coal and oil, you stop using it. 'Cause that's gotta be at least 60% of the population. We'll use 'em still, but you can save the planet. We're gonna survive. What do you say?
May I ask you, when the president says, [hillbilly voice] 'Well, I've got my metal detector out, and I've been walking all over the world trying to figure out these high oil prices,' what do ya say? Could it be, perhaps, maybe, possibly, what's happening in the Middle East? Libya. Egypt. What do ya think? Possibly?
Is our action in the Middle East, is our president saying, 'Revolution? Hey crazy kids all over the world, you should all do that!' You think that's helping or hurting the price at the gas pump? What do you think, America? It's not that hard. It's really not that hard.
Tonight, I'm gonna show you how business is being affected by energy prices. We have a studio full of those evil, entrepreneurial capitalists. Oh, I don't even know how we let them through the front door. [Shot of docile, everyday Americans in audience.] How many of you are businessman, or women? [Most raise hands.] How many people here have their business being hurt right now because of the situation we find ourself in, not necessarily the, ya know, the president or anything else?... [people raise hands.] Okay. How many people are expecting even more problems because of the energy policies we're pursuing right now? [All raise hands.] Perfect.
Your jobs are gonna be so secure soon because of the president. It's gonna be great. It is. We might be a little chilly. And hungry. And poor. But the earth will be safe.
No, actually, it won't. It's just gonna keep going and doing what it does.
America has always done well because of our energy. We had -- you know, if you grew up in the Soviet Union, when we bought Alaska, the Soviets went, [accent] "Crap." They knew. They were in trouble, because we had all of those resources. Now we don't use any of those -- but, on the bright side, we do have really, really cold, barren land that nobody ever walks around. We have that.
Other countries like China and Russia are pursuing cheap energy while we're pursuing more expensive and the least productive energy sources. When the world breaks down -- and it will, 'cause it always does, but life goes on -- we'll be cold. Because we're banking everything we have on the Middle East and a solar panel -- that we can't even get installed on the roof of the White House, and he is the president.
Can I tell ya something? I think that sounds like the dumbest idea... I would rather bank on the flux capacitor than this energy policy.
Tonight we're gonna introduce you to some energy executives as well, who know first hand about these policies. Bob Murray is with us. [They greet each other.] Bob, I want you to know, is a friend of mine, I have to admit that. I'm in bed with Big Coal. Bob and I met two years ago. Bob is CEO of Murray Energy, a coal company in Ohio, and we have talked a couple of times in the last couple of years, and I was struck by you because you're a guy who started with nothing, you've created jobs, you've defended workers, and you have put up with more crap from unions and administrations past and present than I think anybody. I heard your story for the first time, and I thought, 'There is a strong man.' Tell me what happens if the coal plants start to close down.
Bob: When President Obama ran for the presidency, he said, 'You can build a coal plant in America, but we're going to bankrupt you.' Biden said, 'No coal in America.' What they have done today, by the latest study that just came out by the National Economic Research Associates are going to cost Americans 1,440,000 jobs by 2020, just out independent agency. Going to raise electric rates in this country $184 billion through 2020, Glenn. 1.44 million jobs, $184 billion increase in electric rates, which is a staple of life. But to me, sir, that's the national issue. It's bad enough. It's also a human issue to me. I live with our miners. These jobs I created from scratch. There's only 3100 of them, but the universities say those mining jobs yield 37,000 jobs nationally, due to the secondary jobs created for the goods and benefits. So, these people want to work in honored dignity, and they're being denied that by Obama, and his out of control regulatory agencies and policies. Sir, this isn't the America that I've known and have cherished. For them and their families to be denied their lives and livelihoods and jobs, over these policies that are gonna accomplish nothing. One more thing, sir. Exports of coal from America are at record levels. He has denied the the American utilities the ability to use this coal, so we're exporting it to countries that are building new power plants everyday. China, a new 500 megawatt power plant every week. What they are doing is using the low cost electricity, because it costs four cents a kilowatt/hour, compared to 22 cents for solar, 9-10 cents for gas. And, of course, solar and wind have $24 kilowatt/hour in subsidies from you, sir, the tax payer. What he's done is he has exported the low cost coal, they have the low cost generation, the jobs have been exported to the foreign countries, our people our unemployed, and it is insanity.
Beck: Is there anybody here who can explain it, and give somebody the benefit of the doubt -- I see it, America, quite honestly, and I apologize, but I see this only as one, I mean you're trying to cripple business and you're trying to fundamentally transform... When we come back, Jack, you say you can give him the benefit of the doubt and show another path to this? We'll go there next.
[Missed a few sentences.] There's an awful lot of passion in this room today. Energy, business, how do we possibly survive? I'm not used to asking a question in the audience and having everyone shout out answers. We're talking to Bob Murray. We also have Daneen Borelli, she's with Project 21. Tom Borelli is a senior fellow for National Center for Public Policy Research. Jack Gerard is the President of the American Petroleum Institute. Ken Anderson is the CEO of Tri-state Generation and Transmission, and cooperative electric utility.
Let me go back to Jack. You raised you hand and said, 'yeah, I can come up with a different reason other than intentionally trying to destroy the country.
Jack: Well, what I was gonna say, Glenn, was to add to what Bob was saying. Two aspects of the job issue. 9% unemployment in the country we need to stay focused on. The first one is the current jobs, as Bob talked about, the threat to his industry. In the oil and gas industry in the United States, we employ 9.2 million Americans. That's the first component. The second is, we have the ability if turned loose with permits and access to American resources, produced by Americans for Americans, to create another million jobs here in the United States. So we're talking about these policies that are impacting our ability to produce energy, it threatens the existing employment base, but it also holds us back from bringing this economy back to recovery.
Beck: The problem is, they will say you are doing the old jobs. These are -- Ken, go ahead, your shaking your head.
Ken: Well, I think: innovation. You mentioned it. What's wrong with the innovation of the existing, foundational jobs that we have. If you don't like coal then let's work on fixing it. It's a technology we can mature far beyond where we've taken it thus far. There's lots of jobs in that technological innovation -- as well as the balance of other renewable innovation, I'm not knocking that -- I'm just saying where's the balance back to something that's very mature technology, but we can mature it much farther. We've got the minds, we've got the capabilities. Those are jobs.
Beck: Is anybody else frustrated that nobody seems to get this, that nobody seems to understand that even now while they're getting bills from their electric company, the state is saying, 'your electric is going up thirty percent.' Deneen? Nobody seems to get it.
Deneen: They should get it after this show, I hope. But, you know, President Obama and his administration, they have a command and control energy policy. Because he wants to prop up renewable sources of energy and ignore, destroy the fossil fuel industry through regulations and restricting supply. That is part of the reason why the prices are being driven up. But hopefully more and more Americans will speak up and stand up, push back on this effort.
Beck: Tom, you have been going after General Electric for a very long time.
Tom: Yep.
Beck: General Electric, they're building all these turbines, they're making money, and they're getting -- you wanna talk about subsidies, they're getting, how many, Jack, how many subsidies do the oil companies get?
Jack: Zero.
Beck: Say it again!
Jack: The oil and natural gas companies get zero subsidies.
Beck: That's not true--
Jack: That's absolutely true.
Beck: No, that's not true, I've got cartoons here, on the wall, that shows the Fat Cats getting subsidies.
Jack: The oil and gas industry gets zero subsidies. Now while some would like to convince you and make you believe we get subsidies, the tax provisions they're talking about, that they proposed raising our costs $80 billion dollars over the next ten years, are provisions applied to all industry, to the General Electric that you mentioned earlier. What they've done is identify five companies that they want to deny the ability to recover our cost to produce energy. It's punitive, it's vindictive, and it doesn't help us produce the energy we need for this country.
Beck: Okay. Tom, tell me about General Electric.
Tom: What you have to understand. President Obama, if he's anything else, he's a community activist. And we wouldn't have Obamacare if it wasn't for the pharmaceutical companies, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, who lobbied for it. So those companies are responsible for Obamacare. With energy policy, it's the same thing. He triangulates the business community, picks out a few of the winners that he thinks he likes, and then they lobby together. Cap and Trade passed the House of Representatives because of General Electric, Dupont, DOW Chemical. The problem with General Electric is, first of all, Immelt has been CEO for ten years. Their stock went from 40, it's now around 18. He had it settled twice with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- once for cooking the books -- and yet he still has a job. That's why we, the people, have to start holding him accountable. And all these executives. Because if it wasn't for big business with Obama, we wouldn't have many of these problems.
Beck: It's the same thing that happened -- America, if you don't know what happened in the Great Depression with FDR, it's exactly what he did. There's a great -- and I wish I had this off the top of my head -- but there was a great tire manufacturer in New Jersey that was making tires. They were better, they were cheaper. But FDR got in with the big tire companies that you know -- Goodyear, Good Rich, all of them -- and he said, make the rules. Tell us what's right. The people in that little tire company in New Jersey went and testified in defense of their company and their boss. They went out of business. They went out of business. But the names you know are still in business. And it's exactly what's happening with G.E. right now. They're using the same thing, and they're taking big companies, getting into bed with them, and putting everybody else out. You're small business owners, how many of you are small business owners. [People raise hands.] How many of you have the opportunity to get one of the waivers for Obamacare? [No one raises a hand.] No, but there were 1400 of them. Did G.E. have an Obamacare waiver, do you know, Tom?
Tom: I'm not sure.
Beck: Okay. There are special exceptions, you just have to be worthy of it. And all you have to do is kowtow at the feet of an emperor. That's where we're headed, an emperor. It's equal justice. Justice for all. Equal justice. When you have special exceptions or when you have tax waivers and you say -- oh, not tax waivers, the opposite of tax waivers -- you say, 'no, everybody else pays this level, but because I don't like you, you're gonna pay this [higher] level.' That's not America, is it. Hang on a second. Innovation, when we come back.
[shows some of the Fatcat cartoons]
This is another one of those programs that I wish we had two hours for. We have gas, coal, and oil executives. We have people who are just business people. We have people who are just like you, as well. And we were talking during the break on how long before this, before people really understand what's being done to our country and you start to feel it in your pocketbook more than you are now, with our energy prices. Kate, we were talking in the break, and you've vocalized what I've been feeling, until recently, at least.
Kate: Yeah, I just don't understand why the oil companies allow themselves to be vilified the way they are, and why they don't articulate their position to the people. Ya know? We need what they produce.
Beck: Tom, you're a guy who's been going after big businesses and everything else, before it was cool to go after big businesses. Why are the oil companies doing it, do you know?
Tom: The oil companies have no idea why they're doing it. I think some of them are really useful idiots. They could give a little less flesh, and maybe they won't be killed in one swipe. It absolutely made no sense to join with General Electric and other companies and really sell out we, the people. But now they're waking up, and hopefully they'll recognize that people will be behind them if they do start--
Beck: Lemme go to Joe Petrowski. He's with Gulf Oil, CEO since 2005. [video feed, not audience.]
The first time I think I've actually seen you guys swing back in front of Congress and not look like little puppy dogs, the first time was in this last hearing. You guys started to say, 'Excuse me, that's not even the truth.'
Petrowski: Well, I can't speak for others. I think we think it's important to have a healthy debate about our energy policies, and it starts with carbon based fuel for about 75-80% of our BTUs today in the United States -- and no serious discussion about making us competitive or making us secure. Starts by saying carbon based fuels are going away anytime soon.
Beck: But the oil companies, though. BP, Beyond Petroleum, what a load of bullcrap that is. Why not be proud in what you're doing? You guys create jobs. It is a way of life, currently. I mean, would it be great if we were off oil? Sure, it'd be great if we were off oil, I guess. But we're not, and we're not any time soon. You guys have put together these ads -- and I know I'm not talking about you specifically, but I'm talking generally -- they're ads that make it almost seem that you're ashamed of being in the oil business. Why not be proud of what you do? -- and say, 'look at what we've provided for the world.'
Petrowski: I'm proud of it. I mean, of the 165,000 gas stations in the United States, 58% are owned by single-site operators. 75% of all the stations in the United States are owned by people who are small businesses who own less than five units. We employ 8000 people, and we haven't laid anybody off. I'm quite proud of that.
Beck: And here we have the president going over and saying that we want to be Brazil's biggest customer. What does Brazil have that we don't have?
Petrowski: Boy, I don't know. Apart from recognizing that carbon fuels are here to stay, the domestic energy policy needs addressing. It's on the fact of security, it's on the fact of jobs here in the U.S. and balance of payment, and I'll take another argument. If only you cared about the environment. That's all you cared about -- you didn't care about jobs or competitiveness, just the environment -- where in the world would it be safer to drill? In the United States? Or in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, or Brazil. Just answer that question.
Beck: Let me go back to the audience. We were talking about CEOs. And where are all the CEOs.
?: Don't think for a minute we are not fighting back. We are bounding together like we never have before. I get more calls from other people who used to be my competitors, saying can we pool our resources? 'Cause we're not here to survive, we're here to win. And we will protect our employees at all costs. You will not take them down. We are bounding together. We're at mastermind groups, we're at roundtables, we're in communities, we're trying to figure out how we -- not depending on them -- how we will get through this to the next side. Because we got into business because we love our teams, we love what we do. We consider it a blessing. And what's happening now? It's heart wrenching.
Beck: So lemme go up here [to another audience member].
?: Let's talk about what American companies can do in terms of innovation. What are American companies doing to reduce the toxicity of fracking? Getting American energy out of the ground in a way that is also safe for the environment?
Beck: Jack, can you talk about that? 'Cause I know that they just found a huge oil reserve in Texas, but it may have to be found by fracking, and people say that's polluting the water and everything else.
Jack: Which isn't true. Oil and natural gas, they've been using the fracking process, which for those who don't know is a process whereby we drill vertically and now through modern technology can drill horizontally and through pressure crack the rock and allow smaller deposits of natural gas and oil to now be produced commercially that weren't commercial before. We have standards. We're regulated by the federal and by the state law. We develop best practices within the industry. It's a safe technology, it's been concluded by the EPA. They've currently got it under study again today. Natural gas, the great finds we have in our country are a game changer. We've created 57,000 new jobs in just Pennsylvania and West Virginia last year alone. That's the potential of the oil and natural gas industry if we're given the opportunity to do it.
Beck: Alright, so let me go there next. I want to talk about American innovation, and I want to talk to Steven who says -- you're from Pennsylvania?
Steven: No, I'm from [Somewhere] City, but both of my grandfathers were coal miners, [inaudible] work in Eastern Pennsylvania. And he's absolutely right. The problem you have for the last thirty years in Pennsylvania and other places that produce coal is people who are against it are thinking in the past. Innovation is the answer. It can be done safely. Both of my grandfathers died of black lung; today that would not be the case. And yet, it's still a boogeyman out there. Those areas of Pennsylvania -- Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Frackville -- all those towns are dying. These were the New Deal towns that went for Roosevelt 90%. These are my relatives that still have Roosevelt's picture on the wall -- [Steven is getting choked up while speaking passionately.] -- and talk about Mr. Hoover's Depression. And yet, the Democratic Party sells them down the river.
Beck: Back in just a minute.
This is, this is a passionate, passionate group of people. Jim?
Jim: I'd like to identify the region in Texas as a new energy supple in shale gas. Don't discount the Pennsylvania region, combined with Ohio, West Virginia--
Beck: Wait, wait, wait. The only reason why I say that is because Texas still understand freedom, where the Northeast doesn't.
Jim: Let's not forget there more new millionaires created as the result of new industry and investment created in North Dakota than in any other state in the nation. We can do this, we can continue our policy of innovation, with new improvements to gasoline, new improvements to diesel oil and heating oil that are coming along to make them competitive.
Beck: Lisa? Lisa, you just bought a new home.
Lisa: Yes, we did. My husband and I sold our home with a real feeling that we had to become more self reliant, inspired by watching your program and reading so much material.
Beck: OH, you're a kook!
Lisa: Yes! We prayed about it and knew we would find the right home, and we did. It has the acreage that we can actually farm our own food, and we're already harvesting lettuce and things. It had a woodburning furnace. That heats hot water and the home. And it had southern exposure, which is so hard for us to find in Connecticut, where there's a tree on every corner and blocking every view. So we feel like, until things really change and terms of containing the cost of energy -- that will necessarily skyrocket -- these are the only tools that we have right now.
Beck: But you can't put up a solar panel on your house.
Lisa: I can, but it's not within my affordability.
Beck: Well, you can always get subsidies and let the rich Fatcats pay for it. Kenneth, you were just saying--
Kenneth: Affordability
missing: last ten minutes, to be added later.
more when I catch up. (there's about 10 min left in this episode.)
Tonight we're gonna talk about energy, because on the 5th of October, the Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, made America an exciting promise, and here it is
The White House will lead by example. I am pleased to announce that by the end of this Spring, there will be solar panels that will convert sunlight into electricity and solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House.
Oh goodness! [Beck gets on his knees.] When I heard this, I said, Thank you, Jesus, for having a hot water tank powered by the sun on the top of the White House! 'Cause that's gonna make all of the difference in the world -- we're fixed, America! That's how upside down this White House is.
By the way, look at the clock. We're officially end of the Spring. Ha. Lemme show you what it looks like [screen of WH] where on the top of the-- I don't see it. Where are the solar panels? Must be an old picture? Tiffany, is this an old picture?
Tiffany: waahwaahwaahwaah
Brand new picture. So, I don't know where the solar panels are. Maybe it's a different Spring. Maybe it's camouflage. MAYBE they didn't do it because it's bullcrap from the beginning! Whaddya think? No solar panels, even though this White House solar panel project was, quote, designed to accelerate deployment of solar technologies. Now, I know it's been 259 days since the anouncement, but let me defend the president here. That may seem like 259 days, if I bought the solar panels and they weren't up on my roof yet, I'd be a little pissed. But. Remember. 259 days in union time, that's like ten minutes.
Tonight, the administration's attack on our most reliable and needed energy sources all in the name of Going Green. Oh, and the extra little added bonuses of how our businesses are suffering because of it. C'mon.
DUN DUN DEHN DUN
[Full audience, clapping.] Oh boy, look at 'em. Look at 'em. Some of these people in this audience, Big Oil people. Yeah. Big Coal people. Some of them, businessmen. Hohoho. Don't worry, we've alerted the authorities.
Hello, America. The president spoke today at the DNC -- actually, I think it was yesterday -- his 30th fundraiser of the year. Just a little perspective: the last president at this point in his reelection period had three fundraisers. 30 for this one. The White House has released a transcript for the fundraiser.
Believe it or not, it is not edited. It is right there on whitehouse.gov -- Drudge caught this and posted it, and I want to show you the remarks by the president and it was... and it ended in laughter.
Over the last 15 months we've created over 2.1 million private sector jobs. [Laughter.]
That's funny. Man, that's funny. Ignoring the pain of the American people, and the horrific economy, and the 9.1% unemployment, all the companies shutting down, people struggling just to put food on the table or have gas in their car. Man, that's FUNNY, Mr. President. You're a riot!
[Editor's Note: Later on Fox News, Bret Baier reported that the White House called this a typo and updated the transcript.]
Speaking of riots -- which are coming soon -- at the same event, Obama also talked about energy. Here's what he said, quote
We have begun the process of changing how we think about energy in this country.
Oh, he's done that. Yes. We don't even think about energy in this country anymore. Whatever spills out of that socket there? It's a magic wall-box. I don't even know how that energy gets in there. Came with the house, I think. The primary energy sources the Americans rely on to operate and function -- you know, for the blender when they're making daiquiris at those really swank functions at the White House -- are now treated as enemies. The companies that provide them are now treated as enemies.
The FTC has launched yet another investigation into Big Oil.
Regulators are, quote, "examining whether oil companies, refiners, or traders have manipulated crude-oil markets" caused the increase in gas prices. This is so weird, 'cause they don't have any evidence. In fact, I've got a stack of evidence on what IS causing the problem. But, no, they're involved in a political witch hunt.
Back in April, Obama created a joint task force of the Justice Department and the FTC to investigate the oil and gas markets. They haven't found anything, but they're determined to get to the bottom of these Outrageous! Prices! Now, America, if you have a clue on what's causing these outrageous prices, could you do me a favor and put them in a box, and just send them to the White House? Put all those clues there... It'd be like they have a box of clues. It's be like, Oh I don't know, I don't have a box of clues-- ding ding!, the post office will deliver it.
Box of clues. What do ya think? Put in that box, maybe, a president who says, making energy prices skyrocket is "necessary"? I know, the odds of finding something that obvious -- really slim. Especially if you work for the Justice Department. Maybe you have a chance of finding out if maybe, I don't know, a printing press somewhere where they're printing up money and oil is pegged to the dollar, so if you devalue the dollar, your energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket", wouldn't they, Mr. President? Maybe you could find an out of control government agency going out of their way to shut down coal plants, like the EPA.
Their new stricter regulations have already caused one of the country's larger power companies, the American Electric Power, to close at least five plants.
That will cost us hundreds of jobs and invest 6 billion dollars to meet the new requirements of coal. By the way, a new one in San Antonio just announced it's going to close shop because of the stricter regulations as well. [screen picture of CPS energy.]
Quote, "It was a decision really driven by expectations that we're going to face more challenging environmental regulations" (Spokeswoman Lisa Lewis, 21 June).
Cass Sunstein, is that you? Oh, you're crazy.
An executive at that plant expects more to follow soon. Now, the timing at that plant couldn't be better, because this economy is about to rocket... and then blow up. Couldn't be better in the timing. In Texas, especially. You remember Texas, the state that's creating 50% of the jobs now? Texas population is booming, power companies are struggling to keep up with the increased demand. Texas has 19 coal powered plants, more than any other state. Don't forget -- creating half the jobs that Obama was joking about at his fundraiser.
You might hate coal. You might think to yourself, 'man, I always hated it when Santa was gonna bring it to me.' You might hate it with everything in you. But every time you turn on your light in your home, you should fall to your knee and say, 'thank you, coal.'
[screen: pie chart of 2009 U.S. Electricity Generation]
Coal is used to generate about half of the electricity consumed in the United States. [Gets close to camera.] Here's an idea, you environmentalist wackos. Ban coal. But before you do that, I want you to use half the electricity in your own life, in your own home, in your own office, and tell me how sweet it really is. And don't wait for the Obama Administration to put the solar panel, you know, hot water heater on the roof first. Lead by example, you weinies.
Okay, coal. Coal is the largest domestically produce source of energy. Half of our electricity, largest source. [new screen: line graph of energy consumption by major source.]
Why would our president make it harder for us to gain access to our most easily accessible gained energy in the middle of an economy teetering on the brink of disaster? What do you think? Why would he want to do that? I know he wants everybody to have a windmill in their front lawn, and I'm hoping mine comes really soon. I'm gonna put it in after my solar panel on the roof. And I have my car plugged into the roof, thank you GM.
But the technology is not there for all of those things to happen. Talk to GM. The government cannot force innovation. It does not work. And by the way, if I plug my car in, because of evil oil, I'm not gonna do that [oil], where does the electricity come from for the car?? Out of the magic box on the wall? A coal powered plant.
Now, let's see if any of these policies on energy this administration is making any sense whatsoever. Here is America's overall energy consumption breakdown:
Petroleum: 37% -- evil oil, hate those guys.
Natural Gas: 25% -- I don't know what to think, nobody's said anything about them yet.
Coal: evil.
Nuclear: dangerous and evil.
Renewable: 8% -- perfect.
How are we gonna survive? I just showed you the war on coal from this administration. They're shutting down the plants and doing exactly what the president said he would do. Oil, our top overall energy source, and what is the administration doing? Relentlessly investigating, threatening to take windfall profits, making it harder for them to get more domestic oil. The gulf -- the BP spill -- the administration put a moratorium on off-shore drilling in the gulf. The longer this went on, the harder it got for local companies to keep their doors open. We've lost jobs. We've lost all kinds of things. Tens of thousands of jobs. Skyrocketing gas prices. And then the president says, 'I'm gonna putt that out." Yeah, try to get one.
While the shares of major U.S. oil companies have tanked, Petrobras, Brazil's main oil company, oh they're doing great. Of course, the president went down there and said we're gonna be their biggest customer. How about a policy where everybody else is our biggest customer? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I'm kinda fresh out of checkbooks.
Oddly enough, George Soros had his largest holding in Petrobras.
Three months after the BP spill, Soros dumped his shares in the company. Then when his eyes started wandering around and our eyes stopped looking at him, guess what happened? He increased his holdings again in Petrobras, to more than a million shares. Ha-wha?
Just those two sources -- coal and petroleum -- are 60% of our total energy, and they're under attack. Oh, I know. Everybody who hates coal and oil, you stop using it. 'Cause that's gotta be at least 60% of the population. We'll use 'em still, but you can save the planet. We're gonna survive. What do you say?
May I ask you, when the president says, [hillbilly voice] 'Well, I've got my metal detector out, and I've been walking all over the world trying to figure out these high oil prices,' what do ya say? Could it be, perhaps, maybe, possibly, what's happening in the Middle East? Libya. Egypt. What do ya think? Possibly?
Is our action in the Middle East, is our president saying, 'Revolution? Hey crazy kids all over the world, you should all do that!' You think that's helping or hurting the price at the gas pump? What do you think, America? It's not that hard. It's really not that hard.
Tonight, I'm gonna show you how business is being affected by energy prices. We have a studio full of those evil, entrepreneurial capitalists. Oh, I don't even know how we let them through the front door. [Shot of docile, everyday Americans in audience.] How many of you are businessman, or women? [Most raise hands.] How many people here have their business being hurt right now because of the situation we find ourself in, not necessarily the, ya know, the president or anything else?... [people raise hands.] Okay. How many people are expecting even more problems because of the energy policies we're pursuing right now? [All raise hands.] Perfect.
Your jobs are gonna be so secure soon because of the president. It's gonna be great. It is. We might be a little chilly. And hungry. And poor. But the earth will be safe.
No, actually, it won't. It's just gonna keep going and doing what it does.
America has always done well because of our energy. We had -- you know, if you grew up in the Soviet Union, when we bought Alaska, the Soviets went, [accent] "Crap." They knew. They were in trouble, because we had all of those resources. Now we don't use any of those -- but, on the bright side, we do have really, really cold, barren land that nobody ever walks around. We have that.
Other countries like China and Russia are pursuing cheap energy while we're pursuing more expensive and the least productive energy sources. When the world breaks down -- and it will, 'cause it always does, but life goes on -- we'll be cold. Because we're banking everything we have on the Middle East and a solar panel -- that we can't even get installed on the roof of the White House, and he is the president.
Can I tell ya something? I think that sounds like the dumbest idea... I would rather bank on the flux capacitor than this energy policy.
Tonight we're gonna introduce you to some energy executives as well, who know first hand about these policies. Bob Murray is with us. [They greet each other.] Bob, I want you to know, is a friend of mine, I have to admit that. I'm in bed with Big Coal. Bob and I met two years ago. Bob is CEO of Murray Energy, a coal company in Ohio, and we have talked a couple of times in the last couple of years, and I was struck by you because you're a guy who started with nothing, you've created jobs, you've defended workers, and you have put up with more crap from unions and administrations past and present than I think anybody. I heard your story for the first time, and I thought, 'There is a strong man.' Tell me what happens if the coal plants start to close down.
Bob: When President Obama ran for the presidency, he said, 'You can build a coal plant in America, but we're going to bankrupt you.' Biden said, 'No coal in America.' What they have done today, by the latest study that just came out by the National Economic Research Associates are going to cost Americans 1,440,000 jobs by 2020, just out independent agency. Going to raise electric rates in this country $184 billion through 2020, Glenn. 1.44 million jobs, $184 billion increase in electric rates, which is a staple of life. But to me, sir, that's the national issue. It's bad enough. It's also a human issue to me. I live with our miners. These jobs I created from scratch. There's only 3100 of them, but the universities say those mining jobs yield 37,000 jobs nationally, due to the secondary jobs created for the goods and benefits. So, these people want to work in honored dignity, and they're being denied that by Obama, and his out of control regulatory agencies and policies. Sir, this isn't the America that I've known and have cherished. For them and their families to be denied their lives and livelihoods and jobs, over these policies that are gonna accomplish nothing. One more thing, sir. Exports of coal from America are at record levels. He has denied the the American utilities the ability to use this coal, so we're exporting it to countries that are building new power plants everyday. China, a new 500 megawatt power plant every week. What they are doing is using the low cost electricity, because it costs four cents a kilowatt/hour, compared to 22 cents for solar, 9-10 cents for gas. And, of course, solar and wind have $24 kilowatt/hour in subsidies from you, sir, the tax payer. What he's done is he has exported the low cost coal, they have the low cost generation, the jobs have been exported to the foreign countries, our people our unemployed, and it is insanity.
Beck: Is there anybody here who can explain it, and give somebody the benefit of the doubt -- I see it, America, quite honestly, and I apologize, but I see this only as one, I mean you're trying to cripple business and you're trying to fundamentally transform... When we come back, Jack, you say you can give him the benefit of the doubt and show another path to this? We'll go there next.
COMMERCIAL
[Missed a few sentences.] There's an awful lot of passion in this room today. Energy, business, how do we possibly survive? I'm not used to asking a question in the audience and having everyone shout out answers. We're talking to Bob Murray. We also have Daneen Borelli, she's with Project 21. Tom Borelli is a senior fellow for National Center for Public Policy Research. Jack Gerard is the President of the American Petroleum Institute. Ken Anderson is the CEO of Tri-state Generation and Transmission, and cooperative electric utility.
Let me go back to Jack. You raised you hand and said, 'yeah, I can come up with a different reason other than intentionally trying to destroy the country.
Jack: Well, what I was gonna say, Glenn, was to add to what Bob was saying. Two aspects of the job issue. 9% unemployment in the country we need to stay focused on. The first one is the current jobs, as Bob talked about, the threat to his industry. In the oil and gas industry in the United States, we employ 9.2 million Americans. That's the first component. The second is, we have the ability if turned loose with permits and access to American resources, produced by Americans for Americans, to create another million jobs here in the United States. So we're talking about these policies that are impacting our ability to produce energy, it threatens the existing employment base, but it also holds us back from bringing this economy back to recovery.
Beck: The problem is, they will say you are doing the old jobs. These are -- Ken, go ahead, your shaking your head.
Ken: Well, I think: innovation. You mentioned it. What's wrong with the innovation of the existing, foundational jobs that we have. If you don't like coal then let's work on fixing it. It's a technology we can mature far beyond where we've taken it thus far. There's lots of jobs in that technological innovation -- as well as the balance of other renewable innovation, I'm not knocking that -- I'm just saying where's the balance back to something that's very mature technology, but we can mature it much farther. We've got the minds, we've got the capabilities. Those are jobs.
Beck: Is anybody else frustrated that nobody seems to get this, that nobody seems to understand that even now while they're getting bills from their electric company, the state is saying, 'your electric is going up thirty percent.' Deneen? Nobody seems to get it.
Deneen: They should get it after this show, I hope. But, you know, President Obama and his administration, they have a command and control energy policy. Because he wants to prop up renewable sources of energy and ignore, destroy the fossil fuel industry through regulations and restricting supply. That is part of the reason why the prices are being driven up. But hopefully more and more Americans will speak up and stand up, push back on this effort.
Beck: Tom, you have been going after General Electric for a very long time.
Tom: Yep.
Beck: General Electric, they're building all these turbines, they're making money, and they're getting -- you wanna talk about subsidies, they're getting, how many, Jack, how many subsidies do the oil companies get?
Jack: Zero.
Beck: Say it again!
Jack: The oil and natural gas companies get zero subsidies.
Beck: That's not true--
Jack: That's absolutely true.
Beck: No, that's not true, I've got cartoons here, on the wall, that shows the Fat Cats getting subsidies.
Jack: The oil and gas industry gets zero subsidies. Now while some would like to convince you and make you believe we get subsidies, the tax provisions they're talking about, that they proposed raising our costs $80 billion dollars over the next ten years, are provisions applied to all industry, to the General Electric that you mentioned earlier. What they've done is identify five companies that they want to deny the ability to recover our cost to produce energy. It's punitive, it's vindictive, and it doesn't help us produce the energy we need for this country.
Beck: Okay. Tom, tell me about General Electric.
Tom: What you have to understand. President Obama, if he's anything else, he's a community activist. And we wouldn't have Obamacare if it wasn't for the pharmaceutical companies, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, who lobbied for it. So those companies are responsible for Obamacare. With energy policy, it's the same thing. He triangulates the business community, picks out a few of the winners that he thinks he likes, and then they lobby together. Cap and Trade passed the House of Representatives because of General Electric, Dupont, DOW Chemical. The problem with General Electric is, first of all, Immelt has been CEO for ten years. Their stock went from 40, it's now around 18. He had it settled twice with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- once for cooking the books -- and yet he still has a job. That's why we, the people, have to start holding him accountable. And all these executives. Because if it wasn't for big business with Obama, we wouldn't have many of these problems.
Beck: It's the same thing that happened -- America, if you don't know what happened in the Great Depression with FDR, it's exactly what he did. There's a great -- and I wish I had this off the top of my head -- but there was a great tire manufacturer in New Jersey that was making tires. They were better, they were cheaper. But FDR got in with the big tire companies that you know -- Goodyear, Good Rich, all of them -- and he said, make the rules. Tell us what's right. The people in that little tire company in New Jersey went and testified in defense of their company and their boss. They went out of business. They went out of business. But the names you know are still in business. And it's exactly what's happening with G.E. right now. They're using the same thing, and they're taking big companies, getting into bed with them, and putting everybody else out. You're small business owners, how many of you are small business owners. [People raise hands.] How many of you have the opportunity to get one of the waivers for Obamacare? [No one raises a hand.] No, but there were 1400 of them. Did G.E. have an Obamacare waiver, do you know, Tom?
Tom: I'm not sure.
Beck: Okay. There are special exceptions, you just have to be worthy of it. And all you have to do is kowtow at the feet of an emperor. That's where we're headed, an emperor. It's equal justice. Justice for all. Equal justice. When you have special exceptions or when you have tax waivers and you say -- oh, not tax waivers, the opposite of tax waivers -- you say, 'no, everybody else pays this level, but because I don't like you, you're gonna pay this [higher] level.' That's not America, is it. Hang on a second. Innovation, when we come back.
[shows some of the Fatcat cartoons]
COMMERCIAL
This is another one of those programs that I wish we had two hours for. We have gas, coal, and oil executives. We have people who are just business people. We have people who are just like you, as well. And we were talking during the break on how long before this, before people really understand what's being done to our country and you start to feel it in your pocketbook more than you are now, with our energy prices. Kate, we were talking in the break, and you've vocalized what I've been feeling, until recently, at least.
Kate: Yeah, I just don't understand why the oil companies allow themselves to be vilified the way they are, and why they don't articulate their position to the people. Ya know? We need what they produce.
Beck: Tom, you're a guy who's been going after big businesses and everything else, before it was cool to go after big businesses. Why are the oil companies doing it, do you know?
Tom: The oil companies have no idea why they're doing it. I think some of them are really useful idiots. They could give a little less flesh, and maybe they won't be killed in one swipe. It absolutely made no sense to join with General Electric and other companies and really sell out we, the people. But now they're waking up, and hopefully they'll recognize that people will be behind them if they do start--
Beck: Lemme go to Joe Petrowski. He's with Gulf Oil, CEO since 2005. [video feed, not audience.]
The first time I think I've actually seen you guys swing back in front of Congress and not look like little puppy dogs, the first time was in this last hearing. You guys started to say, 'Excuse me, that's not even the truth.'
Petrowski: Well, I can't speak for others. I think we think it's important to have a healthy debate about our energy policies, and it starts with carbon based fuel for about 75-80% of our BTUs today in the United States -- and no serious discussion about making us competitive or making us secure. Starts by saying carbon based fuels are going away anytime soon.
Beck: But the oil companies, though. BP, Beyond Petroleum, what a load of bullcrap that is. Why not be proud in what you're doing? You guys create jobs. It is a way of life, currently. I mean, would it be great if we were off oil? Sure, it'd be great if we were off oil, I guess. But we're not, and we're not any time soon. You guys have put together these ads -- and I know I'm not talking about you specifically, but I'm talking generally -- they're ads that make it almost seem that you're ashamed of being in the oil business. Why not be proud of what you do? -- and say, 'look at what we've provided for the world.'
Petrowski: I'm proud of it. I mean, of the 165,000 gas stations in the United States, 58% are owned by single-site operators. 75% of all the stations in the United States are owned by people who are small businesses who own less than five units. We employ 8000 people, and we haven't laid anybody off. I'm quite proud of that.
Beck: And here we have the president going over and saying that we want to be Brazil's biggest customer. What does Brazil have that we don't have?
Petrowski: Boy, I don't know. Apart from recognizing that carbon fuels are here to stay, the domestic energy policy needs addressing. It's on the fact of security, it's on the fact of jobs here in the U.S. and balance of payment, and I'll take another argument. If only you cared about the environment. That's all you cared about -- you didn't care about jobs or competitiveness, just the environment -- where in the world would it be safer to drill? In the United States? Or in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, or Brazil. Just answer that question.
Beck: Let me go back to the audience. We were talking about CEOs. And where are all the CEOs.
?: Don't think for a minute we are not fighting back. We are bounding together like we never have before. I get more calls from other people who used to be my competitors, saying can we pool our resources? 'Cause we're not here to survive, we're here to win. And we will protect our employees at all costs. You will not take them down. We are bounding together. We're at mastermind groups, we're at roundtables, we're in communities, we're trying to figure out how we -- not depending on them -- how we will get through this to the next side. Because we got into business because we love our teams, we love what we do. We consider it a blessing. And what's happening now? It's heart wrenching.
Beck: So lemme go up here [to another audience member].
?: Let's talk about what American companies can do in terms of innovation. What are American companies doing to reduce the toxicity of fracking? Getting American energy out of the ground in a way that is also safe for the environment?
Beck: Jack, can you talk about that? 'Cause I know that they just found a huge oil reserve in Texas, but it may have to be found by fracking, and people say that's polluting the water and everything else.
Jack: Which isn't true. Oil and natural gas, they've been using the fracking process, which for those who don't know is a process whereby we drill vertically and now through modern technology can drill horizontally and through pressure crack the rock and allow smaller deposits of natural gas and oil to now be produced commercially that weren't commercial before. We have standards. We're regulated by the federal and by the state law. We develop best practices within the industry. It's a safe technology, it's been concluded by the EPA. They've currently got it under study again today. Natural gas, the great finds we have in our country are a game changer. We've created 57,000 new jobs in just Pennsylvania and West Virginia last year alone. That's the potential of the oil and natural gas industry if we're given the opportunity to do it.
Beck: Alright, so let me go there next. I want to talk about American innovation, and I want to talk to Steven who says -- you're from Pennsylvania?
Steven: No, I'm from [Somewhere] City, but both of my grandfathers were coal miners, [inaudible] work in Eastern Pennsylvania. And he's absolutely right. The problem you have for the last thirty years in Pennsylvania and other places that produce coal is people who are against it are thinking in the past. Innovation is the answer. It can be done safely. Both of my grandfathers died of black lung; today that would not be the case. And yet, it's still a boogeyman out there. Those areas of Pennsylvania -- Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Frackville -- all those towns are dying. These were the New Deal towns that went for Roosevelt 90%. These are my relatives that still have Roosevelt's picture on the wall -- [Steven is getting choked up while speaking passionately.] -- and talk about Mr. Hoover's Depression. And yet, the Democratic Party sells them down the river.
Beck: Back in just a minute.
COMMERCIAL
This is, this is a passionate, passionate group of people. Jim?
Jim: I'd like to identify the region in Texas as a new energy supple in shale gas. Don't discount the Pennsylvania region, combined with Ohio, West Virginia--
Beck: Wait, wait, wait. The only reason why I say that is because Texas still understand freedom, where the Northeast doesn't.
Jim: Let's not forget there more new millionaires created as the result of new industry and investment created in North Dakota than in any other state in the nation. We can do this, we can continue our policy of innovation, with new improvements to gasoline, new improvements to diesel oil and heating oil that are coming along to make them competitive.
Beck: Lisa? Lisa, you just bought a new home.
Lisa: Yes, we did. My husband and I sold our home with a real feeling that we had to become more self reliant, inspired by watching your program and reading so much material.
Beck: OH, you're a kook!
Lisa: Yes! We prayed about it and knew we would find the right home, and we did. It has the acreage that we can actually farm our own food, and we're already harvesting lettuce and things. It had a woodburning furnace. That heats hot water and the home. And it had southern exposure, which is so hard for us to find in Connecticut, where there's a tree on every corner and blocking every view. So we feel like, until things really change and terms of containing the cost of energy -- that will necessarily skyrocket -- these are the only tools that we have right now.
Beck: But you can't put up a solar panel on your house.
Lisa: I can, but it's not within my affordability.
Beck: Well, you can always get subsidies and let the rich Fatcats pay for it. Kenneth, you were just saying--
Kenneth: Affordability
missing: last ten minutes, to be added later.
more when I catch up. (there's about 10 min left in this episode.)
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