Posted by
Always To The Right on Saturday, May 17, 2008 2:17:38 AM
Let's Drill
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, the Mr. Magoo of American
politics, stumbled onto the truth last week. He discovered the law of
supply and demand. "We want to put [more oil] on the market to increase
supply and lower prices," Reid said. "With oil and gas prices
continuing to break record highs every day, much more needs to be done."
Indeed it does. But Reid won't allow it. His understanding of
economics only extends to matters in which he might embarrass President
Bush. The oil he wants on the market is the oil the administration is
buying for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), now nearly full. Reid
got his way. The administration now plans to stop oil shipments to the
SPR next month.
Beyond that, Reid and his party are committed to suppressing
increased oil production in this country, as they wait for that magical
day when fossil fuels are no longer needed to supply the nation's
energy needs.
That day may come in 50, 60, 70 years--or never. In the meantime,
America needs oil, and the good news is we're awash in the stuff. If
the oil reserves miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the
eastern Gulf of Mexico, and in federally owned lands in the West and
Alaska were tapped, our dependence on foreign oil could begin to be
reversed. In 10 years, half of America's oil could be produced at home
(up from 40 percent), with more coming from increased exports from
Canada.
Reid and Democrats, OPEC's best friends, aren't noticeably concerned.
Their next step is to remove tax incentives to explore and drill for
more oil. And Senator Hillary Clinton is eager to impose a new windfall
profits tax on oil revenues. These measures have no purpose other than
to punish oil companies. They are counterproductive.