I have gas.

This is written in response to an editorial which appeared in the Daily Iowan on 6/23/08 and in the Daily Universe on 7/22/08. For the original article, click here.

This is in response to the op-ed piece “Offshore drilling: Not a quick fix” from July 22^nd. This farcical essay was yet another attempt by the liberal machine to dissuade the public from believing in those pesky laws of economics.

Of course, why would drilling for more oil bring the cost of oil down? That kind of thinking will get people hurt. The guest author from Iowa rehashes the tired rhetoric that we have been hearing since the seventies. “Even if the project began today…blah, blah, blah. Notice that the amount of time that it will take for drilling to have an effect on gas prices is about the same length of time that Al Gore says it will take for the earth to burn up. The Democrats insist that we can’t wait to take action with respect to global warming, but then they tell us that it would be pointless for us to address the energy crisis because 10 years is such a long time to wait.

Let’s have a look at some facts. The latest scapegoat for high gas prices is the demonic “speculator”. Notice that the very same day Bush ended the presidential moratorium on offshore drilling (and encouraged Congress to do the same) the price of crude dropped by over $5 a barrel. Coincidence? Now, pay attention. Speculators are gambling on what they think the market will do in the future. If they get the crazy idea that oil production will increase (thus decreasing the price of oil) then they will try to sell their shares while the price is still high which will cause the price of oil to decrease, just as it did last week. So, if something else happened that would shake the market, say for example, a massive increase of domestic oil production, what do you think the speculators would do?

The Democrat-led senate is fighting tooth and nail to convince the public that it is “Bush’s failed policies” that have caused the increase in gas prices. Let us not forget that our current energy policy is the Democrat’s brainchild. Domestic oil production is minimal, no new oil refineries have been built in decades. The Republicans have been crying for years to increase drilling, while the Democrats issue the same tired rhetoric. “Stop using, stop driving, stop eating, and stop growing!” Is it any surprise that the net result of an energy policy that refuses to produce energy has resulted in exorbitantly high energy prices?

Now, how about a real solution? We remove the moratoriums, the restrictions and the red tape surrounding domestic oil production. We take advantage of new technologies like oil shale and coal gasification. We build nuclear power plants to generate cheap, clean, virtually limitless energy. Then, while the lower energy costs are busy helping to stimulate the economy, thus allowing companies to expand and create jobs (good) as opposed to downsize and eliminate jobs (bad), we can focus on implementing new technologies and solutions that will help to further decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

The best thing about these technologies will be that they will succeed or fail based on their merits. Notice that hybrids have started to catch on, not because the government is forcing them on us, but because the technology is finally making them attractive. Notice again how ethanol, which has been subsidized by the government for decades, has yet to have any effect on our oil dependence. If anything, the government subsidy has caused the technology to stagnate. If money is coming in despite how well the product actually works, then there is no incentive to improve the product. Ha! Capitalism wins again!