Lest anyone think high energy prices are because the world has completely maximized its production of fuel while demand continues to grow, it is clear that in the Land of Opportunity, the American people are missing opportunity after opportunity to bring down costs by increasing supply. And to find the perpetrator of this injustice, one need only pin the tail on the donkey.
Don’t believe it? On April 29th, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) threw down the gauntlet and let the American people know just who is responsible for their gas pains:
“Gasoline today at the pump is $1.25 more, on average, than it was when the Democrats took over Congress. Why is that a good place to measure? Because during that period, we’ve had an opportunity to build more refineries, and the Democratic majority voted it down. We’ve had an opportunity to open up additional parts of the Outer Continental Shelf and the Democratic majority voted it down. It’s clear that on the production side of the equation, this new majority is not interested in doing anything [emphasis added].”
In truth, Democrat politicians and their fellow Green travelers love high gasoline prices as the means to bring down domestic fuel consumption, or “conservation” as they call it. To them, sky-high gasoline prices are a necessary catalyst to reducing emissions. That is exactly how the Greens justify higher gasoline taxes which, of course, increase the price Americans pay at the pump:
‘A tax on gas is a way to reduce dependence on import oil, reduce traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions,’ said Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute.”
In other words, the Left wants (and likes) high energy costs because they strangle domestic energy consumption. They believe that it is the Earth that has a problem, and they want Americans to pay for it, no matter the cost.
In fact, it is regular Americans who have to drive to work every day who have a problem. A price problem. While there are several factors which drive the costs of energy higher, a large part of it is that America has a supply problem: government is artificially keeping a cap on energy supplies.
Don’t believe it? President Bush spoke of this extensively recently, lamenting Congress’ repeated failures to address America’s energy production problem:
“Americans are concerned about energy prices, and I can understand why. I think the last time I visited with you … I said it was like a tax increase on the working people. The past 18 months, gas prices have gone up by $1.40 per gallon. Electricity prices for small business and families are rising, as well.
“I’ve repeatedly submitted proposals to help address these problems. Yet time after time, Congress chose to block them. One of the main reasons for high gas prices is that global oil production is not keeping up with growing demand. Members of Congress have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production; yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home.
“They repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration in ANWR. The Department of Energy estimates that ANWR could allow America to produce about a million additional barrels of oil every day, which translates to about 27 millions of gallons of gasoline and diesel every day. That would be about a 20-percent increase of oil — crude oil production over U.S. levels, and it would likely mean lower gas prices. And yet such efforts to explore in ANWR have been consistently blocked.
“Another reason for high gas prices is the lack of refining capacity. It’s been more than 30 years since America built its last new refinery. Yet in this area, too, Congress has repeatedly blocked efforts to expand capacity and build more refineries.
“As electricity prices rise, Congress continues to block provisions needed to increase domestic electricity production by expanding the use of clean, safe nuclear power. Instead, many of the same people in Congress who complain about high energy costs support legislation that would make energy even more expensive for our consumers and small businesses.
“Congress is considering bills to raise taxes on domestic energy production, impose new and costly mandates on producers, and demand dramatic emissions cuts that would shut down coal plants, and increase reliance on expensive natural gas. That would drive up prices even further. The cost of these actions would be passed on to consumers in the form of even higher prices at the pump and even bigger electric bills [emphasis added.]”
In other words, every single substantive thing that could have been done to reduce energy costs by increasing supply in the past 7 years has been blocked by Democrats in Congress.
Republican leaders are effectively turning energy into a big political problem for Democrats this election year. It’s time to pin the tail on the donkey.
ALG Perspective: Since pro- is the opposite of con-, it is obvious that the opposite of progress is Congress. The American people need to take note, and vote for leaders this year that will increase domestic energy production, which is really the only way to become energy independent. Democrats may say they want energy independence, but they condition that upon energy that is non-carbon-emitting. Good luck with that, Greens! Now that ethanol has been discredited as a Third World-hunger-producer, the only viable, efficient, and cost-effective options are carbon-emitting and nuclear energies.
