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Congressman Campbell’s Laptop to Yours
$4/gallon,
$4.50/gallon, $5/gallon or More
Monday, March 28, 2011
By John Campbell
I was home in California last week and I paid $4.29 for premium fuel
while I was there. And, as I write this, the price of oil is still
rising. $4.50 or $5.00 per gallon of gas is certainly in sight and
possible. And, remember that the price of oil is denominated in
dollars, but it is a world market. So, when the value of the dollar
drops, as it is doing now due to printing money and deficits and such,
the price of oil in dollars will rise even if the world supply/demand
equation remains stable. We have seen this movie before.
I remember very clearly in August and September of 2008 that
Republicans (including this Republican) took to the floor of the House
during August recess to talk about the recent rise in gas prices and to
send a “drill, baby, drill” message. I also well remember one day in
September when I was scheduled to lead that floor effort, but the
financial crisis was about to burst and overwhelm the issue of gas
prices. I asked to see then minority leader Boehner and was able to
convince him that we should not be talking about gas prices when a much
bigger crisis was going to be upon us within days. He heeded this
advice and we went out and held a short press conference in Statuary
Hall where Mr. Boehner announced that we were suspending our energy
discussion because there were other problems looming.
Today is almost the reverse of that day. The economic collapse in
September of 2008 took gas prices and that entire issue down with it.
We are now in the midst of a recovery of sorts and current gas prices
threaten to derail that recovery. Now, I understand that the
geopolitical forces driving the price of oil right now are largely out
of the control of our nation’s leaders. But, what drives me nuts is
that in the last 3 years, we have not only done nothing to reduce our
vulnerability to such forces, we have actually exacerbated them.
I understand that it is a world market for oil. But, we can give
ourselves some more control over how it affects us by producing as much
domestic oil as possible. I also understand that it takes years to
develop oil fields in places like Alaska. But, that’s a reason to start
right away, not to wait. A couple weeks ago, President Obama said that
his Administration is not stopping oil production. That statement is
completely false. His Administration has completely halted oil
production in the Gulf of Mexico. He has blocked development of the
enormous field in ANWR in Alaska. Shell Oil announced a few weeks back
that after obtaining 38 or 39 required permits to extract oil from an
existing Alaskan field, they have found getting the last one from the
Administration too difficult and too costly and abandoned the project.
And, Obama’s people continue to erect barriers to developing oil sands
fields in the Great Plains.
But oil isn’t the only story. We have a lot of natural gas in this
country, but the Administration is blocking new development of this
resource under the guise of environmentalism. We have more coal than
any other country, but they continue to try to block its use. And,
although the President says he is pro-nuclear, the actions of his
Administration are exactly the opposite of his words, as they have been
and are approving nothing in the way of nuclear power. I understand
that nuclear energy has become a much more controversial topic in
recent days given the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant in Japan,
but it remains cheap, safe, very clean and extremely reliable.
So what do they do? All they ever talk about are wind and solar, both
of which can only ever be supplemental and which are very expensive and
require huge government subsidies. The EPA also promotes and subsidizes
a lot of ethanol, which can also only be supplemental and has a lot of
subsidiary problems, including its affect on food prices. So, we
subsidize inadequate, expensive power, and, at the same time, we are
penalizing abundant, cheap power. And, because of the deficit, we are
borrowing that subsidy money from places like China, which are
developing and using all the resources that we are not.
Oh yeah, and now it is a federal crime to make, sell or use
incandescent light bulbs. That’s an energy policy? This Administration
talks a lot about choice. But, somehow a choice that the law will not
allow you to make is to use Thomas Edison’s creation.
It all makes me so mad! As I said, I understand that we could not have
stopped the disruption to the energy markets that is going on. But, we
have intentionally left ourselves without preparation, alternatives or
a plan. And, there are many, many options available to us. That is the
real crime. Just remember when you can’t fill your tank at a gas
station in June because the $50 limit on your debit card only buys you
9.7 gallons, you can lay it all at the feet of the President and the
eco-radicals he supports, who have become a significant threat to our
freedom and prosperity.
Until next time, I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Member of Congress, 48th California District
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