Energy Prices

The only reason gas prices seem low now is that they are down from the ridiculous highs during the summer of 2008; however, you can rest assured that they will go way back up unless our whole economy shuts down. John Podesta, one of President-Elect Obama’s top advisors, has already announced that one of the new administration’s first actions will be to issue an executive order locking up huge areas from oil and gas development. This is a payoff to wealthy environmental extremists. Environmental radicals have forced millions of good jobs to go to other countries and have caused delays and huge cost increases on all of our major infrastructure projects. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) pointed out at a conference in early December that the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 had brought about changes (such as better platforms, double hulls on oil tankers, etc.) that have prevented any oil spillage even during major hurricanes. I voted for that bill and much other environmental legislation, but we need some balance and common sense in this area, not extremism. We can do all forms of energy production today in safer and cleaner ways than we could have even 20 or 25 years ago. But if we are ever going to recover economically, we need to be encouraging more energy production of all types rather than restricting it. Overly strict enforcement of environmental rules and regulations has already destroyed many small and even medium sized businesses. It has pretty much limited coal, timber, natural gas and oil production to the big giants. This has driven up the price of all forms of energy and has really hurt poor and lower income people.