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Real Prescriptions for Pain at the Pump
06/07/07| Gas prices are once again on the rise and rather than do something about it, Congress is pointing fingers. Well, I’m tired of the finger pointing and the hypocritical environmentalists. Let’s get real. China and India’s economies are growing so rapidly they are crowding out the oil market, which is forcing prices higher and higher. If we really want to see gas prices drop, we are going to have to drill for oil in America and stop relying on foreign oil. OPEC is squeezing us for every penny we’ve got because they know green environmentalists won’t let us drill in the deep seas off our eastern coastline or in Alaska’s ANWR. Meanwhile, Cuba is allowing China to drill for oil less than 100 miles off our eastern coast! China is, in effect, using our resources while our hands are tied! Not drilling for oil increases our pain at the pump, prevents the creation of 250,000 to a million new American jobs, and poses a threat to our national security. I would love nothing more than to tell the Middle East and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela that we don’t need their oil. If we want to see gas prices drop, we need to build more American oil refineries. We have not built an oil refinery in America since 1976! We are forced to pay foreign companies to refine our oil rather than pay Americans to refine it in America. This is not only stupid, but wrong. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently said, “Isn’t it interesting every year about this time, a refinery goes down for repairs?”. No, it’s not. The refineries are old and they need constant repairs. If we want to make sure gas is getting to the pumps to keep prices from increasing, we’d better build new ones. If we want to see gas prices drop, we need to make automobiles more fuel efficient. We all know car makers can build cars that can get a lot more miles to the gallon than they do now. It’s time they do it. If we want to ensure fuel prices are affordable in the future, we need to support the development of hybrid powered cars and alternative fuels. We need to make sure there are heavy investments in alternative and renewable fuels, and incentives for consumers to adopt efficient new technologies, such as tax credits for buyers of hybrid cars. Let’s be honest. We all want to protect the environment so we can pass along a better world to future generations. However, we can’t pretend that just because we aren’t drilling for oil in America, it isn’t drilled from the earth at all! It’s time we drill for oil in ANWR and off our coasts. It’s time we build new refineries, and it’s time we produce fuel efficient cars until our cars can run on something other than gasoline. Every other idea is a gimmick; and, until we do these things, prices at the pump will continue to empty your wallet. ###
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