Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!
Wizard of Oz
A few months ago, one of my conspiracy minded friends told me this - "Now that Obama has been re-elected, just wait. Gas is going to skyrocket!" Now if the truth be told, nobody distrusts the President more that I do. However, I did not buy into this goofy theory. Boy, was I wrong.
Today, when I saw the price of gas hitting $4.19 all over town, I started to snoop around the internet. The only explanation I could find was NIMBY (not in my back yard). Translation - two refineries went down in Chicago at the same time for "upgrades", and they would not be back online until mid-summer. The reason "NIMBY" was mentioned was simple - we would have more refineries, but nobody wants one of those "stink pots" close to where they live. Bottom line - we have not had a new refinery built for decades.
To this sophism, I say crap! We have plenty of remote land owned by the government, much of which would be suitable to build a refinery. We have seen this movie before when a sudden spike of gas is blamed on refinery capacity. If this is truly a problem, we could have fixed it long ago. Right now we have more proven oil reserves than in the Middle East. We should be exploiting the Bakken Reserve for all it is worth. It is the biggest find since the north slope of Alaska. It is nuts that we are sitting here midway through 2013, looking at $4.25/gal for gas.
What can be done? Take our energy situation seriously for a change. We know we are in the twilight of fossil fuels. Soon, we will have energy sources that come right out of a Star Trek movie. However, for the next few decades, we need out domestic fossil fuels. To deprive our citizens of this abundant resource for the sake of a small, yet vocal minority, is madness. Our country became great on energy, and will only remain great by developing more energy.
This afternoon my wife and I were out buying garden supplies when the price spike hit. For some reason, Costco still had gas for $3.77/gal. What we saw when we drove by Costco reminded me of the gas lines of the 70's under Jimmy Carter. It was panic buying. Folks, this is a self inflicted wound! It does not have to be this way. DEMAND our energy! We deserve it! We own it! For a starter, we need the Keystone pipeline approved now!
We deserve better. You deserve better. We wait too long for good weather to have it ruined by artificially high gas prices. It is our energy - lets claim it. Enough is enough.
To this sophism, I say crap! We have plenty of remote land owned by the government, much of which would be suitable to build a refinery. We have seen this movie before when a sudden spike of gas is blamed on refinery capacity. If this is truly a problem, we could have fixed it long ago. Right now we have more proven oil reserves than in the Middle East. We should be exploiting the Bakken Reserve for all it is worth. It is the biggest find since the north slope of Alaska. It is nuts that we are sitting here midway through 2013, looking at $4.25/gal for gas.
What can be done? Take our energy situation seriously for a change. We know we are in the twilight of fossil fuels. Soon, we will have energy sources that come right out of a Star Trek movie. However, for the next few decades, we need out domestic fossil fuels. To deprive our citizens of this abundant resource for the sake of a small, yet vocal minority, is madness. Our country became great on energy, and will only remain great by developing more energy.
This afternoon my wife and I were out buying garden supplies when the price spike hit. For some reason, Costco still had gas for $3.77/gal. What we saw when we drove by Costco reminded me of the gas lines of the 70's under Jimmy Carter. It was panic buying. Folks, this is a self inflicted wound! It does not have to be this way. DEMAND our energy! We deserve it! We own it! For a starter, we need the Keystone pipeline approved now!
We deserve better. You deserve better. We wait too long for good weather to have it ruined by artificially high gas prices. It is our energy - lets claim it. Enough is enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment