Gas Prices Too High? We’ve heard all of the lies, Now I’ll give you the facts

We’ve been told that there’s nothing we can do that will have a short term effect and they’re telling us that a 35 cents a gallon tax increase is the only way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I believe they’re wrong on both counts.

We can ignore the environuts and start drilling in Anwar. Remember these are the same clowns who told us that the pipeline would ruin the environment and decimate the Caribou herds, what happened? The environment remained the same and the caribou herds, attracted by the warmth of the pipes, increased dramatically. The announcement of this decision alone will have an immediate effect on oil prices.

We can expand drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico and off our coastlines. They’re using the BP oil spill and subsequent Obama moratorium as an excuse to further their Discredited Global Warming scare. The immediate increase in drilling activity in the gulf would provide us with an increase in supplies even quicker than Anwar.

We can devise One Nationwide Gasoline Formula. Refineries are now required to produce 40 different formulations for different areas across the country. This causes delays when they have to shut down to switch from one formula to another. It also causes shortages when one area runs low and their nearest refinery is producing another blend at that time. C’mon, ignore the kooks, it’s ridiculous. The EPA can come up with one formula that should satisfy most concerns. Any holdouts can ride their bikes.

We can double the current number of refineries. We haven’t built a new refinery in this country for the past 30 years while the demand for oil has skyrocketed. Between the NIMBYS and moronic government regulations it takes over 15 years from concept to production to get a new refinery up and running, that’s ridiculous.

Forget Lower Cafe Standards. For every action there’s a reaction. Every time we demand that manufacturers increase the miles per gallon their cars must provide, we get smaller, lighter more dangerous cars and higher repair bills. Manufacturers are now running safety checks on bumpers at 5 mph. 5 miles per hour and plastic bumpers, for pete’s sake where do we go from here? A few years ago coming home from the grocery store I was collecting bags from the passenger seat I must have hit the emergency brake release. After I had gone into the house the car rolled down the 5% grade in the driveway and hit the gardeners truck. The bumper and trunk wound up in the back seat. The bill was over $2,500, give us back our steel bumpers, or at least pre formed aluminum..

We’re not running out of oil! Even the most dire predictions give us another 50 or 60 years before it gets serious...if we’re allowed to drill for the oil we know is there. Let’s face it, regardless of all the propaganda, oil is going to be the engine that drives the world’s economy for years to come. Increased competition between oil companies and gas stations would also help. We’ve allowed oil companies to swallow up the independent gas stations and squeeze their own franchises. Let’s reverse the trend.

At this point scalpers and speculators have succeeded in running up the price of oil futures. The mere announcement that we were taking the steps I’ve outlined will have an immediate effect on OPEC and the oil markets. We claim to want to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil but refuse to drill while Russia and China have increased their drilling operations all over the world. Did you know that Russia provides a substantial amount of oil and natural gas to Europe? Stop and think about the level of control this will provide both countries over these customers. What are we waiting for?