Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, is launching a new TV ad that puts the blame of $4.00 gasoline at the feet of Barack Obama. As reported by Breitbart.com the ad asks, "Gas prices-$4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America. No to independence from foreign oil. Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" The answer is Obama.
The fact is that while I doubt only Obama is to blame, the nominee, along with the power brokers in the Democratic party, have presented no solution to help ease pain at the pump. If the jump in crude oil is based on a a supply shortage, then the Republican solution of more drilling, both offshore and in Alaska makes sense.
Obama has rejected this, but has put forward no tangible solution. On the one hand, he agrees that the U.S. needs to be energy independent, but on the other hand, offers no serious way of getting to independence. Wind power and other non-nuclear alternatives don't have the scale to power an entire nation. Just an aside, but isn't it odd that when talking about 'alternative energy,' nuclear is never mentioned, though in other parts of the world like Europe it produces a sizable amount of energy.
As for environmental concerns, oil is now brought out of the ground with cutting edge technology, so worries of huge oil spills isn't all that realistic.
Consumers should stop being held hostage by election year politics, and for the good of the nation, Obama should cross party lines and agree to increased drilling.
Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 7/21/08.
Before the bell: Wall Street headed higher; automakers, retailers in focus
Waiting for the other shoe to drop: The looming credit crisis
Bet on T&A with J&J (JNJ)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-21-2008 @ 4:02PM
joepaduano said...
Sure now the writer of the article and others just don't care about the consequences of a nuclear disaster or meltdown. Who cares about the possibility of an oil spill? New technology makes that almost nonexistent. Right! It can still happen and both would be devastating. Well, do you really think more drilling will make gas cheaper? The Alaska oil pipeline was supposed to make gas cheaper here. Did it? NO. Use the saner alternatives. Wind and solar. Find another way to run an auto. Develop a car that runs on pressurized air, or hydrogen.
7-21-2008 @ 5:08PM
Lee said...
The reason that Alaska oil drilled can not make gas cheaper is because it is exported to Asia. Not one drop comes down to us via pipeline or tanker.
7-21-2008 @ 5:25PM
Bill Harrison said...
I would like to know where a nuclear plant has had a meltdown except in Russia where the government was a sham.
Hydrogen powered cars? Get real. You have to have hydrogen around -400 degrees to make it liquid and that is unsafe for anyone to be around much less filling up at car tank. God runs the solar system on nuclear power, why not us. All power sources have risk or draw backs. If we don't start using every one we can, including oil and nuclear, then our economy and standard of living is going bye bye.
7-21-2008 @ 5:42PM
crewsport said...
When will this country start looking at the bigger picture??? The issue is NOT where to find more oil . .more drilling off shore and the beginning of Artic drilling will only stall the inevitable: using up the finite suply of carbon based energy.
Wouldn't it be an amazing thig if we wer able to put the moiney that we are sending to the Saudis into our own education and health care systems?
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is about alternative energy that will give us a long term solution . .not 2 years .. not 10 years . . but long term . .the next 100 years. Any new drilling will take at least 8 years to produce the first barrel. And who has any guarantee that this oil will not end up in the same place as the Alaska pipeline oil. .the oil from the Alaska pipeline in NOT in the American market. It is being sold to the highest bidder:China! Even though our tax dollars built it!
As soon as we start to be more aggressive about alternative energy sources, the price of oil will come down, so the American public will become apathetic once again and abandon those concepts. And the whole cycle will replay over and over again.
As that famous Texas iol tycoon, Pickens has said. ."This is a crisis we canNOT drill our way out of."
Alternative energy. Not more oil for a dead end solution.
7-21-2008 @ 6:05PM
Aaron Martin-Colby said...
I totally disagree.
Obama may not have a coherent plan, but drilling for more, domestic oil is a laughable proposition.
Even if we started drilling like crazy RIGHT NOW, it would have no effect on the supply for at least five years.
And what then? How would we convince the drilling companies to send the oil to the US alone? Oil is valuable, they'll send it to the highest bidder which may well not be us.
Will we subsidize it to keep it here? Then the taxpayer pays in the end, anyhow.