Oil Company (Profit) Equation: High Gas Prices + Campaign Contributions = Control

If offshore drilling is truly seen as viable band-aid to lowering gas prices, following the same logic why shouldn’t we just colonize the moon to deal with the foreclosure crisis?

I find it utterly amazing at just how far and wide fascist propaganda travels when it has enough money and ignorance behind it. Analyst agree, offshore drilling would have no effect in the short-term and hardly any effect in the long-term on gas prices.

“It would take at least a decade for oil companies to obtain permits, procure equipment, and do the exploration necessary to get the oil out of the ground, most industry analysts say.”

New offshore drilling not a quick fix, analysts say

Has this problem arisen for merely political reasons? No you say, there is actually an underlying, fundamental problem here? Hmmm? Then don’t you think we should address that fundamental problem and ask why the oil companies and the Republican Party are pushing offshore drilling so hard? After all the oil companies are already sitting atop millions of acres of land and offshore drilling permits, yet they aren’t presently drilling. Well, why not?

I think the better question is, why would they want to?

If this was merely a case of free market fundamentals than why would the oil companies want to add more oil supplies to the market when the price for their product is peaking? Am I missing something?

IS THERE A SHORTAGE OF OIL?

Are they not able to keep up with demand?

There are no gas lines or shortages of oil-based products at our stores. For the American consumer the price is the problem and not the availability of oil and oil-based products. That’s what makes this a political problem.

But from an economic standpoint the consumers are continuing to pay the price. Sure, there has been a slight decrease in demand but that only works to stabilize the price and ensure that more people continue paying that high price. Then if we put ourselves in the shoes of oil executives whose sole job it is to increase profits for their company, and we follow fundamental principals of supply and demand, why would want to increase supply? After all the price for oil is stabilizing and we’re not having a problem meeting demand.

The economic reality is that the oil companies are making record profits - and why wouldn’t they? They have a monopoly on a finite resource that is in high and growing demand by every society on earth!

Why would they want to add additional supply to the mix if that was in fact possible by drilling offshore? Why would they want to lower their prices and thereby decrease their own profit? It doesn’t make economic sense. No company would want to do that, especially when they know that there’s no place else for our country to go to satisfy its demand for energy.

Doesn’t it make sense that the oil companies want additional permits to drill offshore because they want control over these resources and the profits that they will yield in the future? For-profit companies don’t want there to be a decline in prices for the main product they sell. They want a monopoly and they want to control the price. That’s econ 101.

Wake up and smell the hydrocarbons. We’re locked in to these guys and they know it. Unless we start doing things radically different its only going to get worse. Offshore drilling is not the answer. And drilling 10 years ago would have had a negligible effect on prices today.

Creating a solution to decentralize energy in the form of alternatives that work most effectively in the geography where they are needed would have had a tremendous effect on prices if that policy had been adopted just 10 years ago.

Take it a step further and if we would have listened to Jimmy Carter 31 years ago (”Carter Tried To Stop Bush’s Energy Disasters - 28 Years Ago“) we wouldn’t be in this predicament today.

“With the exception of preventing war,” said Jimmy Carter… “this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes.

…It is a problem we will not solve in the next few years, and it is likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century.

…We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.

…We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.

…The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation.

… He called the new energy policy he was proposing, [T]he ‘moral equivalent of war’ — except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not destroy.”

You may have heard similar sentiments coming out of the mouths of conservative oilmen like T. Boone Pickens. Isn’t it funny how conservatives suddenly become progressives when they finally see a profit motivation? Who knows, hopefully one of these guys will finally see the light ($$$) in global warming to start doing something about that too!

(Cover photo by Flickr user Lollie-Pop used under a Creative Commons license.)

Don’t Drink the Kool Aid…

Don’t Drink the Kool Aid: The Republican Party is the Largest Special Interest Group in the World!

corporatism: control of a state or organization by large [special] interest groups

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When I was in 10th grade I had a debate teacher who told me that “perception is reality.” How right Ms. Braverman was. Oh perspective is a mighty, mighty thing.

A couple of days ago you may have heard that the Republicans held a little pro-oil company protest by refusing to leave the floor of the House. Well depending upon your perspective they were either standing up for the little guy or doing what Republicans do best, doing the bidding of the elite and the monied special interests.

For those of you who actually fell for the Republicans ruse maybe I can change your perspective of things with a little enlightening dose of reality.

I won’t get into how more drilling would offer absolutely NO benefit to gas prices in the short term and very little in the 5 to 10 year span it requires to get oil from the ground to market - you can figure it out for yourself: (Energy Dept. Study: ANWR oil would have little impact - “perhaps reducing the price by 30 to 50 cents a barrel”)(Logic of off-coast oil drilling deeply flawed)

What I do want to talk about is an interesting quote in a report from RawStory:

“Urging drilling, House GOP members refuse to leave floor for recess”

“As members of Congress pull a stunt today on the floor of the House regarding oil drilling… Campaign Money Watch urges all voters and reporters to go to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics’ website, OpenSecrets.org, and review how much each member of Congress received from the oil and gas industry over their careers. These contributions from Big Oil, more than anything else, will tell you what you need to know about today’s circus,” said David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch.

So I took Mr. Donnelly up on his challenge and this is what I came up with:

PDf of Campaign Contributions to Pro-Oil Company Republican Protestors

These 22 Republicans, who staged their little pro-oil company rally, had actually accepted $6,357,214.00 (Six-million, three hundred and fifty-seven thousand, two-hundred and fourteen dollars) in total campaign contributions from the oil, gas and energy natural resources industries.

The best part of their whole little stunt was when they attempted to feign concern for the plight of the little man affected by the recent rise in gas prices by, you guessed it, blaming it on the Democrats!

If not for the obviousness of their actions I’d have to give them an “A” for political maneuvering. I mean what could be better than fooling the American people into believing that you actually stand with them by paying back your very large campaign contributors, all the while blaming the Democrats for a problem you did nothing about for years.

My hat is off to those clever fascist in the Republican Party; well done.

What a great way to generate millions of people who are beyond cynical about politics and politicians, and a phenomenal way to make the jobs of people on the Left who continually battle for human, environmental, civil and labor rights so damn difficult.

Bravo, bravo!

(A special thanks to those unfortunate souls over at Red State that have obviously overdosed on the Kool-Aid but were kind enough to compile a list of all the nice Republican fascists.)

(Cover photo courtesy of Flickr user Dave Ward.)