Prosperity or hardship? Every American I know prefers living in a country filled with opportunity and hope, and we’re not alone. People all around the world are choosing the same path and they are following our blueprint by using energy to overcome poverty.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it also means that the worldwide requirement for oil and gas is growing, and so are the costs. The price of food is connected directly to the price of fuel and in America. Both are being pushed to record levels by rapidly changing world markets, but also by our self-imposed restrictions on domestic energy production. You see the proof every time you pull up to the gas pump or push your grocery cart down the aisle.
The good news is America can ease the pain this worldwide problem is causing by doing what this nation does best - finding and developing our own energy resources.
Crude oil is a global commodity and we aren’t the only ones interested in it. Experts say China could soon pass the U.S. in oil consumption and demand in India and other developing countries is also rising drastically.
Much of that oil comes from the Middle East, which allows the countries in OPEC to heavily influence prices. We could loosen their grip by relying more on our own oil. But as everybody in Texas knows, some Democrats in Congress don't believe in oil, in gasoline or even in natural gas, and they have voted consistently to stop exploration in Alaska and under the Outer Continental Shelf. Nearly our entire coastline is now off limits to American oil exploration. Ironically, Chinese drillers are now looking for oil in the Cuban waters just off Florida. We think the areas within American control could contain as many as 112 billion barrels of oil. The exact figure isn’t known because even finding out how much we actually have is against the law.
A growing chorus of experts also blame rising food and fuel costs on government mandates like the Renewable Fuel Standard. Last year, the Democrat led Congress passed a law that begins to transition away from petroleum by requiring gasoline to contain 10 percent ethanol, which comes from corn. Unfortunately, some politicians didn’t give much thought to what happens when food stops being food and becomes fuel, instead. Not surprisingly, the cost of the food goes up when the supply drops. So does the cost of the fuel, even with a 51-cent a gallon government subsidy, because ethanol costs lots more to make and transport than gasoline.
The ethanol requirement has not only inflated the cost of corn and corn related products, it is also affecting the price of meat because livestock producers are paying more to feed their cattle and hogs.
Those factors combine to create much higher food prices. The amount that groceries have gone up since last year is astonishing. Just look at these numbers recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Egg prices up 30%
- Milk Prices up 13.3%
- Bread prices up 14.7%
- Banana prices up 15%
Congress may make the laws, but you pay the premium when government policies force the price of your gasoline and food to go up. Some Democratic leaders have started calling these skyrocketing prices of food and fuel “unintended consequences.”
Maybe no one meant for this to happen, but now that it has, Congress needs to do something about it.
The solution is right in front of us. If we start developing our domestic energy supplies in ways that won't harm the environment and apply some common sense to the ethanol mandate, your prices will start to level out.
In an economy that is already stumbling, continued high gasoline prices coupled with increasing food prices are a recipe for a recession.
Driving to work, taking your kids to school and buying groceries are not luxuries. I will be introducing a bill soon to ease the pressure on the food and fuel prices. I hope that both Republicans and Democrats alike will find a way to support this effort and bring you the relief you deserve.
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