Proposed fuel cost solution is not a solution.

I truly believe that our so-called “leaders” have lost their minds!  This weekend, I got to hear our Presidential candidates offer up their ”solutions” for rising fuel costs.  All they could come up with was either suspend the federal gas tax for 4 months, or suspend the federal gas tax for 4 months and make the oil companies pay for the difference or do nothing. 

What I want to know, since I’m just a dumb, tax paying, gun owning, bitter American who just clings to my religion, is how you solve a problem, if you don’t understand it’s cause it in the first place? 

Here’s the number one cause as to why fuel costs are so high; supply and demand.

Ten years ago, 10-15 million barrels of oil a day output was enough to meet the demands of the global economy, but not today.  Not when foreign economies like India and China are growing at double digit rates annually.  If you want fuel costs to come down, here’s some hard facts of life you’re going to have to accept:

1.  You must increase supply and realize that big oil is not the enemy, they are the solution.  The governmental, economical and environmental regulations that have been placed on them are the enemy.  If you want the costs to come down, then big oil must become your best friend.  Remove these obstacles and let them start building new refineries and let them bring the ones that were shut down during the Clinton administration back online. 

2.  DRILL EVERYWHERE!  We’re going to have to drill in the gulf (if you don’t already know, China, Venezuela and Cuba are already there) and we’re going to have to drill in Alaska.  (The caribou are just going to have to make do).  And for all you tree-huggers out there, I’m not saying let them destroy the environment.  They still need to be responsible, but we have to allow them to do what’s necessary, within reason, to access these reserves.  Also, by drilling domestically, we’ll be sending a message to OPEC that we will no longer allow ourselves to be bent over, and if they want to retain their best customer, they may want to increase production now. 

3.  Ethanol is NOT the answer.  Did you know that it takes 400 pounds of corn to produce 25 gallons of ethanol, and the process uses more energy than it produces?  Also, ethanol is a detergent and because of this, it can’t be put into pipelines.  Therefore, it must be transported by truck and mixed onsite.  That’s not what I would call an efficient process or a logical solution.

4.  Hybrids are NOT the answer.  Sure, they get improved mileage, but it’s still a new technology and they have their own problems to deal with like “what happens when our landfills start filling up with used fuel cells”?  Has anyone done the environmental study on that one yet? 

Now I agree that the solution must be twofold.  We have to come up with a solution that will help with short-term costs now, but we also have to focus on our long-term needs as well, and that’s why we have to start exploration and drilling now.  I also think that we should provides incentives for businesses to develop new technologies.  Something like the X-prize that was given to Steve Faucet for developing a new type of spacecraft.  Offer a prize for the person or company who can come up with a new engine, or add-on component to any car that can obtain something like 100 miles to the gallon (Just a thought).   By doing something like that, you will be encouraging individuals to think outside the box and maybe, just maybe, we’ll stumble across something that could provide a real solution to the problem we face.