President Obama addressed these issues Thursday, February 23, in a speech on gas prices[3] in which he continued to take many facts out of context. While the President said that there is no quick fix to high gas prices and the nation cannot drill its way out of the problem, he creates a false dichotomy that suggests that micromanaging the solution from Washington by subsidizing uneconomical technologies and sources of energy would work. This approach would do little to provide America with new, reliable, and economical sources of energy and in fact would cause more harm than good to the consumer and taxpayer. America knows what works to effectively combat high gas prices: allowing the market to work by opening access to the country’s own oil and gas reserves, reducing onerous regulations, and allowing producers and consumers to respond to energy prices without Washington’s interference. Here are five half-truths that one continually hears about gas prices and five actions that Congress and the Administration can take to effectively combat high gas prices.
Half-truth #1: Oil production is the highest it has been in eight years.
Half-truth #2: Increasing oil production takes too long and would not impact the market for at least a decade.
Half-truth #3: Oil is not enough. America has only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves.
Half-truth #4: Oil is not enough. The country needs an “all-of-the-above” approach to reduce its dependence on oil.
alf-truth #5: Speculators are driving up the price of gas, and they need to be reined in.
Congress and the Administration should:
Get moving on permits.
Require lease sales when ready.
Create a sensible review processes.
Remove regulatory delays and limit litigation
Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
