Former Obama Interior Sec: Fracking is Safe, Keystone Pipeline Should Be Built

So, why does the Obama Administration continue to stand in the way of American energy independence, lower energy prices and JOBS?

At an energy conference in Houston this week former Obama Interior Secretary (also former Democrat Senator from Colorado) said this:

“From my opinion and from what I’ve seen … I believe hydraulic fracking is, in fact, safe,” Salazar said.

Salazar said the oil and gas industry must work to educate the public of the technology and “make sure people are not scared.”

State of the Union: Environmentalists cringe as Obama touts oil and gas

“We know that, from everything we’ve seen, there’s not a single case where hydraulic fracking has created an environmental problem for anyone,” Salazar said. “We need to make sure that story is told.”

Salazar says he came to his conclusion after speaking wither others in the federal government, including scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning former U.S. Energy Secretary who also says fracking is safe. 

Salazar says we need to "make sure people are not scared" about fracking. Just who is scaring them? Hard core left wing environmentalists who are known to fake evidence of fracking pollution and scare the public. Last fall, former Energy Secretary Steve Chu declared that the famous Cornell Report which claimed fracking was a risk to the environment was "not credible."

Salazar also said that the Keystone XL pipeline should be built: “At the end of the day, we are going to be consuming that oil,” Salazar said. “So is it better for us to get the oil from our good neighbor from the north, or to be bringing it from some place in the Middle East?”

So, with two top former Administration officials openly declaring that fracking is safe why does the Obama Administration still use every bit of red tape to block or stall development of fracking and other energy projects? At a hearing this week in the House of Representatives Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said:

“It is no secret that American energy production is increasing – on state and private land. Production continues to decrease on federal land as the Administration’s regulations continue to increase. And with the BLM continuing to slow walk drilling permit approvals and lease fewer and fewer acres for development, this trend does not appear to be reversing itself anytime in the near future.”

In January, the House passed a bill to expedite energy production on federal lands. Like 40 current House jobs bills, Democrats in the Senate have refused to bring it up for consideration. Also, Obama has threatened to veto it. Time and time again, the Obama Administration has waged a war on energy. In his State of the Union Address Obama once again touted his “all-of-the-above energy strategy” yet like so many of his other promises this one also comes with an asterisk. What he really means is "all of the above" from his green profiteer friends and no new energy from below the ground. Meanwhile, Americans pay more for energy (the poor are hardest hit) and the jobs that could be generated by expanded energy production are left unfilled.