Oil under the ground all over the place in the USA - but thanks to DC it cannot be drilled. Then just for the fun of it, try to build a refinery - notachanceinhellofthat. A diversion of energy effort so build a nuke plant? Huh-uh, no way. That just ain't PC you see.
We are bearing the fruits of the most misguided energy policies, spotlight on ETHANOL & the boondoggles it provides, so we now PAY for it. And we will continue to pay for it until the scale tips towards reason.
BTW - "reducing oil consumption" is not reason, it's called insanity.
In past "spikes", reduced demand in the States quickly led to price reductions both at the pump and at the well head. This time we have another factor that hasn't been seen before, and that is the huge increase in demand from two of the largest populations in the world, China and India. So this time we really don't have enough influence over total demand to just say "everyone conserve, trade in your gas guzzler SUV's for a tiny puddle jumper (at a huge loss), carpool or take mass transit, and everything will be all better". As you noted, we as a country pissed away our best opportunities back when we actually had some leverage. Now, the producers and the speculators are in the driver's seat and we are just along for the ride.
A real national energy policy would be nice, but even discounting my tendency toward skepticism I believe there will be snowball fights in Hades before the self absorbed citizens and their special interest suck-up government representatives see the light. Due to the "not in my back yard" syndrome, we can't get new refineries approved so now we not only have to import oil but we also import refined products. Due to "ignorant of the facts but quick to take the money" government representatives, we piss away billions of taxpayer dollars on subsidies that effectively divert grain from food production, causing huge distortions in both food and energy markets. And we wrote off one of the best energy solutions available to us decades ago when we stopped building nuclear power plants because we weren't smart enough to standardize the construction, staffing, and safety procedures. Scare mongering by the media, along with some boneheaded mistakes by the companies and people operating some of the plants, killed an industry in this country that is working just fine in places like France.
Don't worry, though, our illustrious Congress will jump in sometime in October to provide help. We already have a presidential candidate espousing a gas tax moratorium and a windfall profits tax on oil companies, and I'm certain that there will be many more brilliant ideas offered up as the campaigns for reelection to Congressional seats get cranked up. Of course, by that time many people won't be able to afford to drive or to eat, but what the hey. As long as we can still get credit and print money, our leaders will do just fine.
Jerry
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Topic: Gas price!!!!!!!! OUCH. (Read 65396 times)