Yesterday, I wrote about what I called voodoo economics and admitted freely that I’m not an economist and can only discuss what common sense is to me. There’s another topic that my expertise in is also limited to what makes sense to me. I suspect that there are many of us who are not “experts” on most topics but are pretty well versed on how those topics affect us.
Today, I have another. Energy. Specifically gasoline and heating oil. At least some 50 years ago I did have a college course in economics. It didn’t help me much, but I could say I formed my opinion of something. If I ever had a course in energy, I’d have to say it didn’t make a very lasting impression on me. So today I embark on, what else? What I consider some energy common sense.
People want to blame President Bush and his “oil company friends” for the extremely high cost of energy in the United States. What is rarely pointed out is that before the Democrats took control of Congress in Washington, the price for gas and oil was half of what it is today. In just two years of their “leadership” look what has happened to those prices. Look what has happened to the price of virtually everything else as a result of those rising prices.
A few weeks ago, President Bush halted the presidential ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Now that didn’t trigger immediate work. Congress has its own ban and the Congressional Democrat leadership says it will not be lifted.
But now the prices for gas and oil are declining. And all we’ve seen is the relaxing of one ban, but that, apparently, since there’s no other evidence of anything, has been the catalyst for the producing countries to drop their prices. After all, an independent United States could cost them billions of dollars. I believe becoming independent of the foreign oil is a great thing. The environmentalists and the Democrats believe…well, I’m not sure what they believe. I suppose they’d tell you they’re protecting the planet. From what? Imminent destruction? Or is their way of being sure Americans do not have any control over their own destiny?
One argument I hear is that drilling our oil is just a short term solution. We need, I’m told, to develop an energy plan for the future. Golly, I can’t argue with that. We certainly do. That plan represents a long term goal. Some interesting cars drove through our area a few days ago. They were powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Once that is perfected, and that was projected to be several years down the road, think of all the inventions and retrofitting that will be needed to make that fuel cell a viable use.
That takes many years. In fact, just about all, if not all, ways for us to develop a new energy process will require an equal amount of time for the same reason. Creating new sources of energy isn’t as simple as snapping fingers. There much research, development of both the source and the “things,” whatever they may be, to be able to use that new source.
I probably could prattle on, but you get my idea.
Believe it or not, the best energy plan the government could create and the one that would bring results the fastest, the most efficient, and the most cost effective, would be a plan that would take government completely out of the picture. Stop creating the restrictions that don’t encourage development. Eliminate the restrictions already on the books. Let the business world compete --- wow! “Compete.” What a word! --- to develop those resources that would bring about energy independence.
My God! All those profits. The rich would just get richer. Yes, that’s probably true. But it was all those profits and the rich getting richer that have developed us as a powerful, great nation where virtually anyone who wants to work, can. Who wants to get ahead, can. Who wants to be a success, can.
What has government contributed? Simple answer: A society that has become extremely dependent on the handout, the doing nothing for everything, the lack of ambition, and the falling behind other industrial countries in the world. We are developing a government that has to provide everything for everyone. These governments have been created many, many times in the past. We don’t teach real history anymore so I can’t suggest you just look at it and see where we are headed.
One place we’re heading is into a weekend. One of my major weekend chores was completed yesterday. I mowed my lawn. I still have just a wee bit of ambition.
GiM
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