I'm so sick of hearing people bitch that the price of gas has risen under Obama! Listen up numb-skulls - oil prices are determined on world market just like the prices of wheat and corn. When a drought in Asia sends up the price of wheat, we will pay more for wheat in the United States even though we are a huge net exporter of wheat. Similarly, when the world price of oil skyrockets, people in Canada pay more for gas even though they are energy independent, as would we in the USA if we were energy independent.
A lot has been made of the Obama's lack of support for the Keystone Pipeline from Alberta, Canada to the US' Midwest and Gulf Coast. I won't support the POTUS or debate this issue because I lack sufficient information to take a side. Unlike most people I know, I won't espouse an opinion unless it's based on thorough analysis. I never speak unless I'm certain of what I'm saying.
Depite my inability to offer an opinion on the merits of the pipeline, I can say with aboslute certainty that it would have no impact on our price of gas. All one needs to do is look at what Canada is paying. The country is energy independent. Canada has also been celebrated by Republicans as having courageous politicians that have been willing to kick environmentalists in the teeth. How has this benefited the people of Canada? They only have to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas.
Anyone that has studied economics understands that being energy independent doesn't mean anything unless the country is at war and somehow cut off from foreign oil supplies. If this is our concern then drilling out our oil and gas now would be assinine. It would mean that the resources would not be there if we ever face such a crisis. I'd like to take credit for this suggestion, but it is a reality that was taught to me by an economist I follow - Dean Baker.
I wish others would take some time to santize their conclusions before sharing them with the world!
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