Offshore Drilling, Union Corruption and Power Politics in Russia
Santa Barbara County, California considers supporting oil drilling off its coastline.
Corruption charges against leaders of the Service Employees International Union crop up in yet another state.
Russia leverages its oil and gas supplies to expand its political power throughout Europe and Central Asia.
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1. POLITICS
Santa Barbara County, California considers supporting oil drilling off its coastline.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell on why action is needed in Congress:
“For too long the federal government has tied the hands of state governments that wish to permit oil and natural gas leasing in their adjacent offshore zones. Congress should remove the moratoria on offshore gas production and share the federal royalties with the States that decide to allow offshore production, just as they share the royalties from production on federal lands with the States.”
2. LABOR
Corruption charges against leaders of the Service Employees International Union crop up in yet another state.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on the unfolding scandal:
“The scandal that broke at the largest union local in California earlier this month, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has spread to Michigan, where the head of that state’s largest local has been forced to resign, less than a week after Tyrone Freeman, the head of the California local was forced to resign and the SEIU national organization removed all of the California local’s officers.”
3. INTERNATIONAL
Russia leverages its oil and gas supplies to expand its political power throughout Europe and Central Asia.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on how Europe could counter Russian influence:
“It is vital to understand that Russia has designs on Eastern Europe and is using its energy supply to buy off Western Europe. The future looks bad if this is the case. Yet there is a question here that needs answering first. Natural gas, while cheap to burn and an efficient form of energy, is not the only source of electricity Western Europe has. Germany and Britain both possess abundant coal. France has based its energy profile on nuclear. Both could provide Russia-free energy across Western Europe, yet both [forms of energy] are reviled by environmentalists. Wind power and renewables, beloved by environmentalists, are simply not up to the job.”
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