Telling the truth about high gas prices
June 13, 2008
As our initial attack on the enemies of lower gas prices becomes successful, we will begin to branch out to other areas that we feel are out of control. But for now, we are focusing on high gas prices and ways to get them to come down.
Most economists believe that supply and demand affect prices. So the more there is of something the less it will cost. When plasma TVs were a new thing there were very few of them produced and the prices were astronomical. But once everyone got into the act of producing them and new technology was developed along with finding places where it was cheaper to build them, prices started to drop. Everyday, their cost is lower than it was the day before because they are now in such great supply.
Ten years ago, Bill Clinton had a chance to open up drilling in ANWR and decided to declare an executive order to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge which made it off limits to oil exploration. Ten years later, a representative said that even if we started drilling now, it would take ten years before we would start seeing the effects… Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Opponents of drilling say the small amount would hardly make a difference. So what, then we do nothing? Some’s still better than none.
I have to admit. Several years ago I knew very little about ANWR so early this year I went to their website managed by the US Fish and Wildlife service to find a contact and get some answers. What I learned was eye opening. The fact is that visitor numbers over the past 20 years have remained relatively stable at about 1200-1500 visitors a year, mostly hunters, fishermen and recreational (?) visitors. We’re talking about an area that is about 19 MILLION acres deemed off limits to human development. Fox News reported in 2005 when Congress was proposing to drill there:
Some perspective is helpful to understand the ecological insignificance of ANWR drilling. ANWR comprises 19 million acres in Northeast Alaska, 17.5 million of which are totally off-limits to drilling or any other kind of economic activity. This is why the news footage showing beautiful snowcapped mountains is misleading, because the drilling would not be allowed anywhere near those areas.
Only the flat and featureless coastal plain would be affected, and even there only a small portion of its 1.5 million acres. The current version of the bill limits the surface disturbance to 2,000 acres, a small piece of a big coastal plain in a very big wildlife refuge in the biggest state in the Union.
So the fact is that we have been lied to by people with an agenda. Why would anyone want to do this? You can come to your own conclusions, but drilling would bring jobs to the US, particularly Alaska (a state that needs them!). That’s a good thing, right? On the positive side of the ledger put DOMESTIC JOB CREATION.
We could get 10 billion barrels of oil, and as we pointed out above, increased supply will lower gas prices. On the positive side of the ledger put LOWER GAS PRICES.
By drilling for our own oil, we would not be held hostage by an anti-US middle east (OPEC) that increases and decreases its oil production at will to manipulate the oil prices. On the positive side of the ledger put ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.
Opponents say, “we shouldn’t be using gas at all and find alternative sources.” How’s that working for ethanol? Thanks to this horrible policy of using food to create fuel to use in automobiles, there are now grain shortages which are causing food prices to quickly rise. So not only can we no longer afford to drive to the supermarket, but we can’t afford to buy food once we do get there! And I don’t know about you, but I look around and all the automobiles and trucks I see still use the internal combustion engine. That means petroleum… and LOTS OF IT!
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