With Gasoline headed toward $4.00 a gallon, Obama...

Um...yes it would.

Supply/demand. Basic economics. Not to mention--it stands to reason that we will be held hostage much less by an American corporation than by a confederation of terrorists, or terrorist sympathizers.

Of course, it's not just drilling that's needed (although it SORELY is)...

-We desperately need refineries built.
-We desperately need relief from these onerous regulations that are killing our economy.

Obama will not do any of the above. He will continue coddling to, kissing up to, and bowing to these goons. He will refuse to allow drilling. He will refuse to allow the building of refineries. And he will refuse to curtail regulations.

The man either doesn't know what he's doing with regards to energy policy...doesn't care...or (likely) both.

 

Keep in mind that if we produce more oil, OPEC might lower their production, raising prices back to where they were. I think we need to take a multifaceted approach to energy independence by developing domestic energy sources, promoting conservation, and developing alternative fuels.

 

Peace through strength.

We can drill and refine enough to be largely independent of foreign oil.

We've just got leaders that are too chicken to go get it done.

I don't disagree that a wise course of action would be to develop other avenues of energy. But turning an aircraft carrier takes time. And Obama's lack of real-world experience (or abject stupidity) is showing here. He thinks he can mandate "green energy," and somehow, magically, it will appear out of thin air, adapt itself to a 1995 Buick, and that the emissions will not only be pollution-free, but will supply us with 100% of eleven essential vitamins and iron.

I don't understand this country anymore. We helped save the world--more than once--from tyranny. We put a man on the moon. But today, we haven't the gumption to rid ourselves of being dependent on towelheaded thugs and tinhorn dictators for oil...a commodity we have in abundance!

 

I don't think we can, although I'm not too educated on the topic. However, I think a combination of things can help us achieve true energy independence.

I'm going to go slightly off topic here- one of my big concerns is that we are too dependent on other countries in many areas, not just energy. Take manufacturing, for example. I don't know if it's possible to buy American for many things. I do make a concerted effort to do so when possible. I also try to support local businesses. I own an American made car (a 1999 Dodge Avenger I bought used for $1700). I will never own an import. I am a member of a small credit union instead of a customer of a large national or international bank.

However, many things I buy are made in other countries. For example, my bass guitar was made in Indonesia. It's a decent instrument. It set me back $300. For an American-made bass from the same company I'd be looking at a price tag exceeding $1000. I'd get better quality, but there's more than that which causes the price difference. A large part of it is manufacturing costs. I don't want to lower the cost the standard of living for American manufacturing workers, but I also don't want to lose access to lower-priced consumer goods. Bring manufacturing jobs back to America would raise costs, but it would also produce an economic stimulus that would help offset that.

I think people underestimate the national security risks of being dependent on other nations for manufacturing an energy. If our relations with China made a turn for the worse, we would be in a very bad position because of the face that so much of our stuff is made there.

 

Sure it would. Supply goes up, prices go down. Supply goes down, prices go up. If you ask OPEC, I'm sure they'll confirm this.

 

I would love to see more drilling and refining done here. The more the merrier. But, if OPEC were to slow production to compensate for more U.S. production, wouldn't the price still remain high?

I would love for the U.S. to be energy independent, but I don't know how this could be if all the oil found here were put on the world market. Do you know of any way we could produce and refine our own oil without any influences from foreign countries?

 

Are you sure it's American-made?

Example: Many GM cars are assembled in Windsor, Ontario with parts shipped from Mexico. Yet, the Camry is assembled in the US--it might be more "American" than the "American" auto.

(not to mention, unfortunately in recent years, Our "Home grown" cars were seriously inferior to the "imports." In many cases--they still are...:tear:

Not trying to be argumentative here...it's just a challenge.

 

None of you have noticed the disconnect between pump price and crude price?

Why should station owners sell gas for less than people are willing to pay? Econ 101 teaches that price should be raised until net profit drops. Many stations use the price of gas as a "loss leader," hoping you will come in to buy beer or ciggy butts. They set the area bottom price for "commodity gas" and the premium stations set their price a dime or so higher. One station owner told me he sets his price half way between ARCO and Chevron.