I've been thinking about the prices of oil lately - with gas at an all-time high, President Bush has repeatedly declined to allow dipping into the defense national oil reserves in any sort of effort to keep the prices down - as (IIRC) President Clinton did in the 90s. This has in the past struck me in a couple of different ways
1) It's an effort to keep his oil interests healthy, and therefore corrupt in some manner 2) It's not right to dip into the war chest - we need those reserves in case we really need them in war, and he is doing the right thing. (His explanation) My main inclination is to believe that he is doing the right thing (#2) but for the wrong reason (#1). However, the economist side of me is starting to realize that there is a third rule coming into play here: 3) In order for real achievements in reduction of dependence on oil (not just foreign oil), there must be incentive. Of course, this incentive is higher gas prices. Now that the gas prices are so high (comparatively speaking), people are starting to flock to the high-mileage, low-emission vehicles like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Should the prices get really high, as in Europe, we could even see a real reduction in the US of dependence on the four-passenger vehicle - imagine riding a moped or even a Segway to work on a daily basis. The Democratic party has long been thought of as the more "environment friendly" party. I'm starting to see that the course of action - allowing the price of gas to fall where it may - is actually a wise course of action for the long term for the goals of the Democratic party. There are immediate short gains for the oil barons of the Republican party, which makes them happy as well. As far as the President doing the right thing, I still lean towards thinking he's doing it for the wrong reason. (blame that on the Iraq war fiasco). Just last week, he had a conversation with the Saudis about lowering oil prices. He told them that if they did not allow more daily production, they were going to hurt their oil interests in the long run. He's absolutely right. I guess there's a balance here between immediate prices and long-term benefits. As much as I enjoy driving my 8-cylinder Ford Mustang Bullitt, even I see now that driving a car that uses much less gas is a wiser course of action, both environmentally and financially. I guess my whole point is that the President's Oil Policy is the right thing to do. Comments? - Matt Small ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:155549 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
