Ike highlights poor energy planning
September 16 , 2008
Hurricane Ike should be a wake-up call. Not about hurricane preparedness but about putting all our eggs in one basket. The day before Ike hit Texas, gas stations were running out of gas. Those that still had it were jacking their prices up. Many people were heading to the gas stations even though they still had plenty in the tank. It was akin to the run on milk and bread at the grocery stores at the first mention of snow, something I still don’t understand.
What I do understand is human nature. We panic. We expect the worst and act accordingly. Why all the consternation? Because too many of our refineries are in Texas. When a storm like Ike hits it has a major effect on the gas supply across the country. It seems the liberals are all about diversity except when it comes to diversity of our refineries. The dirt people have stood in the way of our building any new ones since 1976.
It would also seem to make sense that we would begin drilling in waters that aren’t as prone to hurricanes, like off the West Coast. Environmentalists have stood in the way of that. So, here we are, at the mercy of Mother Nature because of radicals who can’t see past next week.
Their view of diversifying is to move toward alternative energy sources. That’s all well and good but we just aren’t there yet. They’ve done such a good job at demonizing oil that we find ourselves unable to move fast enough toward alternative energy sources while being banned from the developing the energy sources we already have.
Personally, I’ve already begun the transition. I make and use my own biodiesel so I didn’t panic when gasoline was in short supply because of Ike. However, I’m in the vast minority. Most people can’t make their own fuel. Most people are at the mercy of the oil companies and the supply (or lack thereof) of gasoline.
There’s no doubt that we were being taken advantage of when word spread that refineries were shutting down. We saw gas prices jump by as much as $1.50 overnight. There’s no way that the gas sitting in those underground tanks at the gas stations magically increased in price by that much. Gas stations were taking advantage of the hysteria. In simple terms, it’s called price gouging.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big believer in supply and demand. I believe gas stations should be able to charge whatever they can get for their product. I also believe we, as consumers, should remember those who chose to take advantage of us in a difficult time.
But, it doesn’t change the root cause of the problem. Too many oil rigs and refineries are concentrated in too small an area. What we need is a real energy policy that allows the market to work. There’s enough oil under the ocean floor off all of our coastlines to supply us with enough oil to meet our energy needs for the foreseeable future. The problem is government regulation that keeps us from getting at this oil.
The Democrats in Congress insist on keeping the moratorium on oil drilling while our energy needs increase. They insist on forcing us to switch to sources like ethanol with government mandates which have resulted in driving up the price of corn and subsequent food riots overseas.
The moratorium on offshore drilling is set to expire at the end of September. Let the moratorium expire. If ever there were a time for this do-nothing Congress to do nothing, it’s now.