The price of oil has almost doubled since Barack Obama was elected president. Candidate Obama blamed Bush’s “ties to big oil,” but President Obama claims there’s no silver bullet to lower the price. Moreover, he ridicules Republican calls for drilling. In his view, our energy salvation can only be found in alternative energy which, of course, required massive “government investment.”
There’s an ounce of truth in the President’s position. Oil prices are market-determined, and short of ill-advised price controls, overt threats to oil producers, or “windfall” profits taxes, there’s little politicians can do in the short run. Alternative energy offers a long-term solution, but there’s no evidence that it will offer much assistance in the short or intermediate terms. Besides, there are many possibilities at this point, and markets—not government—should determine which and when any of these alternatives can begin to make a real difference in meeting our demand for energy.
Ultimately, gas prices are determined by supply and demand. While China had increased global demand, President Obama has stymied oil exploration in the U.S. It takes several years for drilling permits to translate into increased production. Increases in domestic supply have resulted from permits issued in the Bush years, and prospects for increased production in the short term are bleak.
The decline in the value of the dollar is a major and often overlooked contributor to the crisis. With much of the global oil production occurring outside of the U.S., a weak dollar leads to higher prices. Obama favors a weak dollar.
R&D into alternative energy sources is a good idea, but more drilling is the only real solution for the time being. Increasing domestic supply not only brings down the price of oil, but it also creates jobs at home that would otherwise be created elsewhere. When the President mocks his opponents for a drill-drill-drill strategy, he’s either showing his economic ignorance or he’s comfortable with higher prices. The latter might sound a bit farfetched at first glance, but he’s on record supporting a gradual hike in oil prices as a means of trimming demand and shifting the country away from oil (see www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/44810 or simply Google “Obama high gas prices” for more on this).
While the current spike in oil prices cannot be blamed completely on the President, he has contributed to the malaise through his weak dollar policy and his unwillingness to promote the expansion of supply. For this he should be held accountable.
Gas prices are going to skyrocket even more when the dollar continues to fall. This is the flaw in the weak dollar export strategy
Maybe, while we wait to the scientific development of clean energy resources, we can cut our consumption of gas by using smaller cars or, the better way, develop a reliable and frequent public transportation system. By doing so we will cut our dependence in oil produced in foreign countries and reduce the demand for gas and then the prices will go down too.
Aliza, why can’t we drill WHILE WE WAIT for clean energy development? It might be a long time! Why is public transportation BETTER? It’s just another option and it doesn’t make any sense is small cities and towns. Why can’t people just choose their own transportation? Why must government decide this for us?
darell, even if you will continue drill, drill, drill, it will not be enough and the U.S will continue to be dependent on foreign oil and you don’t want to be left for their mercy when another energy crises comes. I suggested a simple and practical idea to stop our dependence on gas. we just need to change our behavior and solve some of the problem in the sohrt run.
It’s not either/or. Oil is the engine of the global economy. Technology in alternative energy is advancing, but we don’t know how long it will take. There’s plenty of oil for decades and it doesn’t need to be imported. We have natural gas too. Nobody is against other forms of energy, but the right alternatives will come from the private sector when they are ready for prime time, not the government.
Oil and natural gas are non-renewable resources. If we burn them so fast we will not have them for future generations, and yes, finding alternatives may take decades. So perhaps we should consume less and it’s not only a government issue, it’s about consumers’ environmental consciousness.
Hey Aliza, we have enough oil for decades. Alarmists have been telling us we’re running out for years now. And what’s the point of saving oil for future generations if they will be told they can’t use it either? People are already looking at alternatives and the market is responding, but it’s irresponsible and ignorant to produce less now. There’s no logical reason not to DRILL now!
We have enough reachable fossil fuels & natural gas, just within the U.S. (and coastal shelves) right now, to last the entire Western Hemisphere 145 years. That is a simple fact.
To put this in perspective: 145 years ago no one in the world had ever seen power coming from a plate embedded in their living room wall, much less a wagon that didn’t require animals to pull it. How much will technology progress between now and even a century from now? I’d venture to guess that, by then, fossil fuels will be a distant memory.
Therefore, it only makes sense to use them, and produce more than we CAN use, so WE become OPEC and supply the rest of the world (turning a handsome profit, in the process), before we end up sitting on top of a supply of worthless resources that could once have saved our economy.
Right? I mean, I don’t see any possible way to refute that. And remember: Disputin’ ain’t refutin’.