FR
I know this is hard for some to hear, but the only way that any dent can be made in dependence on oil, environmental damage, the negative trade balance, the national debt, and more, is by ...
Higher gas prices.
Which in the case of the US means prices reflecting actual total costs to both the environment that are not fully paid by either the sellers or buyers ("external costs") and the lost revenue that could otherwise go to funding services that otherwise have to be obtained in a manner more harmful to both society and the overall economy. The chickens have quite noisily come home to roost on that score here lately.
For beginners, here's what people in the US have yet to catch up on in terms of what all the other modern developed economies do, starting with price at the pump, this taken from a site of a UK group:
http://www.see-search.com/business/fuelandpetrolpriceseurope.htm
Prices and monthly trends Unleaded pence/ltr Diesel pence/ltr from see-search.com Country
PRICE move/mth PRICE move/mth
Austria 75 -0.2 69.8 +0.1
Belguim 95 +6.2 78.2 +4.7
Czech Rep 71.5 +0.8 71.5 +1.3
Denmark 92.2 -0.4 80.8 -2.0
Eire 74.5 -0.3 74 -0.8
Finland 89.4 +6.6 69.2 +2.9
France 85.2 -1.5 85.2 +9.1
Germany 90 +3.3 77.4 +1.3
Greece 65.7 +1.9 64.7 +2.0
Netherlands 100.3 +1.2 77.1 +2.3
Hungary 83.5 +3.7 79.8 -3.2
Italy 87.2 +7.2 79.4 -0.8
Luxembourg 76.5 +4.2 63.7 +1.3
Norway 94.8 -2.0 88.7 -1.1
Poland 79.5 +0.7 72.2 +4.3
Portugal 85.8 +2.0 69.2 -0.4
Spain 66.4 -4.9 66.5 182
Sweden 82.1 -6.7 82.1 +0.8
Switzerland 72.1 +0.6 77.1 +1.1
United Kingdom(Av) 96.5 +6.9 94.8 +2.3
USA 37.5 +2.1 38.2 +0.3 Data sourced - ERIC/USA Av August 2005)
The group is complaining about the UK prices being too high, and they are probably right, it being that the UK and the US are more adept than the typical EU country in siphoning of national wealth to the few.
But now that that's done, notice that individual country pump prices have nothing proportionately to do with barrel price of oil but rather how different countries partake of that income and how it is directed thence. You have to read about all the other ways those countries conduct their business to understand why/how they tax petrol as they do. Sorry to make it complicated, but they recognize the overall implications of energy usage better than some, and so oil itself is not treated as quite the 'separate issue' that it is further west.
"Won't higher gas prices make the US economy suffer?" Price changes usually, not always, affect the short term. But is the US alone in feeling the upsurge in price, whatever it is locally elsewhere? The price goes up for everybody, China included. And as for medium term economic considerations, if the fundamentals are in place the price never historically affects output.
Another FAQ:
"If we just drill more, won't that keep the price lower?"
Before getting to the bigger picture, notice that Norway can easily supply it's own oil needs and still export plenty. Notice also that their pump price of petrol is well on the high side. Notice also that Norway actually gives a sh#t about their own people. (oooops, let that last one slip, sorry).
In the last 50 years, barrel price is set by worldwide demand and worldwide supply. As pointed out above, local/regional/national price of petrol is set by the localities, but the movements up or down are set by the official exchange price of whatever benchmark crude.
Here's a chart of the top existing sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_fields
I'm not going to paste the chart here, but look down the list a bit before you find a US field at the 20th spot, then quite a bit further down before you find the next US wells.
So, the US gets back to furthering domestic drilling; make no mistake that the Dakotas will produce useful output, and that sane and unhurried offshore drilling would be of some help. But look at the chart/list again and tell me how that will have any affect whatsoever on the world price of oil.
None. Zip.
What refiners pay is the going world price, and what you pay at the pump is determined by whatever your country and state decide to take from that to contribute to society or not, but local drilling in the US will never affect any of that materially.
The only way to drive away from this mess is to get to less energy usage by way of technology.
Not by digging out more of what got us into this mess and perpetuating it.
Higher gas prices is the only way for any of that to occur.
Keep heads high folks, things are going where they need to right now.
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