High Oil Prices - Blame The Government You Elected!
By Thomas D. Segel
April 29, 2008
Yesterday I topped off my tank at $3.49.9 a gallon. But, I am lucky. My home is in one of the lowest cost-of-living regions of the country. In California, for example, my brother filled up his tank again at $3.89.9 a gallon and he shops for "cheap" gas. The high price of gasoline is on the lips of everyone you meet these days. Also, everyone has his or her own idea about whom we should blame for our latest economic woes.
Those of us who dabble in writing politically oriented commentary expect to have our views challenged. However, reflecting back on my multiple years of journalistic ranting, I can remember no article that generated more comment than last week's "A Gallon of Oil and the Ethanol Hoax". While the majority of readers corresponding with me agreed with my attack on the liberal left and the environmental loonies who have caused most of our problems, there were still ample emails telling me I had no clue about the reality of our current plight.
My argument is very basic. If any blame is to be assessed, it must be laid at the feet of our national government. The problem starts with the price of oil, which everyone must agree is a commodity and seeks out the highest dollar buyers are willing to pay. Supply and demand determine high and low prices. To get lower prices you can either reduce the demand or increase the supply. Now what has been controlled for more than 35 years? Supply is the answer. And who has controlled the supply of oil in the United States? The answer to that big question is the United States Government.
We all know there is abundant oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We know more oil is in the Dakotas and even Wyoming. We know there are huge deposits of oil off the California and Florida coasts. We know there are tons upon tons of oil shale in the West. We know that thousands of oil wells were capped and are no longer in production. Deep deposits of oil at up to 16,000 feet and natural gas, more than 3 miles underground and off shore await us and we know the technology exists to bring them to the surface.
We know that in the past three and one half decades no new oil refineries have been built, nor have the existing ones been modernized due to the restrictive rules and regulations placed upon the industry by governmental agencies.
While people are forced into making choices between buying gasoline to drive to work, or placing food on the table for their families, a few of our capped wells in California and other locales are being reopened. In California alone, there are currently more than 3,000-capped wells and many have seen only between 20% and 25% of their oil extracted. Some were capped just waiting for new technology and higher prices. Many were capped due to environmental objections. To be completely objective, we must also admit a large number were capped because they had turned into dry holes.
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