“You would think that a former oil businessman turned president would bring more oil independence to our nation, but no, the opposite has happened.”
This statement assumes several things which probably are not true. The oil industry has probably been aware of this building crisis for a while and may realize we cannot drill our way out of this problem. Alternatives are needed and most of the companies have already started to explore them, including cellulosic ethanol, solar, and biobutanol. In addition, the high oil prices are just making the oil companies richer, and pushing the public to urge their representatives to open up restricted oil land and sea. Incidentally, I don’t think that oil company profits are the chief cause of the run-up in price. For that check out the available information on oil ETFs and the supersized purchasing instruments promoted in January 2007 which are being used by non oil users. Non end users have jumped from 30% to over 70% of the oil commodity market in the past several years.
Wrong.
America's energy demands have grown, and America's energy exploration has decreased. Some of which was under the fantasy of finding alternatives to oil.
I have absolutely no problem with oil companies making a profit off of their product. Oil is too cheap and plentiful to ignore, unless complete misery is what we want.
Relying on a yet to be invented, non-existing and cheaper alternatives to oil, is self defeating.
Some loopholes Congress can close, others reinstate like Glaess-Steagal. Adding supply to the global market will lower futures prices but the world wagers against our government having common sense in the short and mid-term, that is the real issue at work. And money goes to where it is safest and that right now is commodities further exacerbating the economic woes.