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Erik,
Don't complain now... you made the opening crack, so I get equal
time:
It is scientific fact that there is nowhere near enough domestic oil in
either the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska or the untapped
areas of the Gulf of Mexico to make even a small dent in our foreign oil
consumption. Tapping what little oil is in those two
areas would NOT lower gas prices by even one penny -- it would only
sacrifice those valuable and delicate areas to provide more profits to the oil
companies (who have been already been sucking in the highest levels of
profits in their *entire history* over the past 3 years).
Do a little investigation and you will find that "the Saudis"
have not made one move to raise the price of a barrel of crude oil in the past
three years. In fact, they have been pumping as much as they can onto
the market in an attempt to keep prices from boiling over like they
are now. The prices are driven by global demand in the long run, but by the
commodity futures market in the short run (like the past 3 years). The commodity
futures market is the playground of very wealthy individuals, investment funds
both foreign and domestic -- and, of course, the biggest players on
that field, the international oil companies themselves. The prices are not
being driven up by the people who pump the oil from the ground. They are
being driven up by the people who ship it and process it and
distribute it to us. They are the ones clearly responsible for artificially
jacking up both the price of a barrel of crude and the price of the refined
product at the gas pump.
To simply toss around incorrect and non-factual stock
phrases about how it is "the Saudis" who are ripping us off and "the
environmentalists" who are causing high gas prices by resisting futile
drilling in valuable natural areas where there simply is not that
much oil anyway is just silly. No intelligent person who investigates
the real facts can possibly reach that conclusion.
--JR
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- Re: [MOPO] Off Topic: GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA! SAN FRANCISCO ... JR
