Gas Prices....the other Fast and Furious!

I was recently asked by a friend what she could do about gas prices. This is my reply.

As you may be aware gas pricing is determined by speculators. They read the market trends and set prices accordingly. While the President does not set the price he can control or ask for changes that can influence what those speculators see.

Several of those factors are:
1. Domestic drilling – the most lucrative areas for drilling in the U.S. have been made off limits by the government. Those area include ANWAR located in the northern part of Alaska. The Bakken Reserve in North Dakota and the out shelves of our coastline. The environmentalists have been very vocal (an obviously getting their way) on these public land areas.
2. Canadian Oil – We currently get more oil from Canada than any other country. The problem (if you care to call it that) is that the Canadians want to sell us more. Until recently the President has been blocking the creation of new pipelines. Oddly, he has them starting in the south and going north rather than the opposite. Naturally, Warren Buffet (the free markets biggest enemy) owns most of the rail lines that bring oil into the U.S. Do you think the two are linked?
3. The U.S. Dollar – Everybody knows that the dollar value has been decreasing. We all see that in the price of groceries. It’s called inflation. With the weakened dollar value comes greater crude pricing. Globally, the U.S. dollar is the currency by which oil is traded.

So, what can you do? Call your congressman and Senators. Do it daily! Tell them we need spending down and we need to open public lands for drilling. Until Congress pushes this administration and serious changes are made, get used to $5.00 gallon gas.