Lower Gas Prices Equals Less Government Intervention

What we are seeing today is people finally starting to question the old agenda that was proposed, passed and stuffed down our collective throats was government intervention into our economy and free markets for political gain. Sometimes the wake up call can only be learned and understood when it hits us personally and in the wallet.

I still believe there are a lot of people that believe government is the solution to all problems and it scares the hell out of me - even in the face of our elected leaders believing revenge is a solution to high gas prices. This is a fact - I can't remember which senator it was, I think it was Chuck Schumer that remarked, after their proposal to hit the oil companies with a profit tax failed, that the people just don't understand the problem. They were truly perplexed. Our elected leaders. Are you scared yet?

Now that President Bush has finally gone public with his demand that congress get off their butts and release the government lands and off-shore for drilling and exploration, we should see some movement in oil prices. He also talked about nuclear energy and more refineries.
Still congress has to act to make it happen. Bush has been after them to do this for years but just now he has gone public with the demand.

Some good news - a company that had proposed 7 new ethanol plants has cancelled due to the price of corn is over $7 a bushel.

I believe we are on the right track now but I'm afraid results will be slow - but keep the faith anyway, we now see how the battle is joined.

Why does gas cost so much?

The average price of gasoline nationwide has crossed $4 per gallon, according to news reports. The cheapest fuel can be found in Missouri, where it costs $3.80 a gallon, while Californians fork over nearly $4.50 at the pump.

How did this happen?

“High oil prices are here to stay due to heightened political risks, irresponsible behavior by oil-producing governments and growing global demand outside U.S. control,” Heritage energy expert Ariel Cohen writes.

The wrong solution. So what do we do about high energy prices?
A recent proposal from liberals in Congress—blocked on Tuesday in the Senate—demonstrates the wrong approach.

Heritage’s Ben Lieberman argues that the legislation “repeats the mistakes of the past by adding constraints that will discourage domestic energy supplies.” For example, the proposal would empower Washington to:

Raise taxes on domestic oil production. When Congress adopted this policy in the 1970s, domestic production actually dropped, making us more dependent on imports and hardly helping prices at the pump.

Pick winners and losers among energy alternatives. This strategy of government direction of the economy has failed time and again in the past and rewards special interests at taxpayer expense.
Impose counterproductive “price-gouging” legislation. Like price controls, Lieberman explains, such laws “try to make high prices illegal,” keeping new supplies from reaching the market. Without more supply, prices remain high.

“Simply put,” Lieberman concludes, “the Consumer-First Energy Act is an anti-energy bill that will only add to already-high energy costs.”

The right solution

The correct solution to high energy prices would be to get government out of the way and allow for more energy production. Lieberman suggests, for example, that “we need fewer restrictions on domestic oil drilling. America remains the only oil-producing nation that has placed a substantial amount of its energy potential off-limits.” The ANWR oil fields in Alaska are estimated to contain oil “equivalent to 15 years of imports from Saudi Arabia.”

Cohen also has a few ideas:
Nations that consume gasoline can pressure oil producers to open more energy to production, for example by limiting the power of the OPEC cartel.

Energy firms can invest in new technologies that can promote efficiency and allow exploration of new energy sources.

The auto industry should “prepare for the likely transformation of automotive transportation when market forces will shift it to electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid cars.”

Heritage Foundation research has also pointed to expanded nuclear energy, a repeal of the misguided ethanol mandate and avoidance of harmful cap-and-tax global warming schemes as means to keep energy prices low.