Gasoline at $4.00 a gallon in America: Not Good News

This is starting to look like the seventies. Without Disco, thank goodness. Back then, Americans had cars running out of gas while waiting in line at gas stations.

Some people think that the oil under ANWR can be extracted without killing the polar bears, moose, and plants that live up there. ANWR is a strip of real estate in northern Alaska, about the size of West Virginia. I know this is a delicate topic, but since there aren't many people in America who aren't affected, I thought I'd go ahead and post this.

Today, I ran into another reason for not using ANWR oil. This one is really imaginative, I think.

Gasoline Prices: The News

Since I'm an American, gasoline going over $4.00 a gallon got my attention, but this isn't the only country affected by rising gas prices.

• "Retail gasoline price at record $4.04/gln: Government"
  Reuters (June 9, 2008)
  • "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government confirmed on Monday what most U.S. drivers already knew as they emptied their wallets while filling their tanks: the national average price for gasoline now tops $4 a gallon for the first time.
  • "The national price for regular, self-service gasoline jumped 6.3 cents over the last week to a record $4.04 a gallon, up 96 cents from a year go, the federal Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.
  • "Pump prices are rising because of expensive crude oil, which reached a record high of just over $139 a barrel last week...."
• " Malaysia's leader pledges to ease public burden after massive gasoline price hike"
  International Herald-Tribune (June 9, 2008)
  • "KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia's leader announced plans Monday to trim financial allowances for government ministers and enforce other cost-cutting measures after raising gasoline prices by 41 percent last week.
  • "The unexpectedly sharp hike in fuel prices led to sporadic protests nationwide, with opposition groups calling for a mass demonstration next month to urge the government to reverse its decision.
  • "Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi moved to calm public anger Monday by announcing plans to save nearly 2 billion ringgit (US$600 million; €400 million) through steps such as cutting entertainment allowances for Cabinet ministers by 10 percent from next month...."

I'm no economist or petroleum expert, but it strikes me that something needs to be done. Maybe even finding alternative sources of oil, boosting supply and so (presumably) reducing costs.

America's Leaders Respond, Sort Of

I ran into a really interesting discussion on a news network (CNN, I think), not long after noon. I don't know what the program was, and I caught just part of it.

The part I heard, though, was amazing. Someone was explaining why ANWR shouldn't be opened to drilling. His argument wasn't the usual ecodisaster/endangered plants sort of thing, although that was mentioned.

What I heard of his remarks was the assertion that there shouldn't be drilling in ANWR, because there wouldn't be any oil produced for 10 years. Apparently, a decade from now Americans won't be using oil, or maybe he believes that if a solution isn't immediate, it shouldn't be pursued.

I wasn't able to stick around to see if he had a suggestion for what should be done.

That 10-year assertion was interesting, though, so I did a little checking, and sure enough: Someone did say that it would take 10 years to get oil from ANWR: "Senate rejects oil drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge (CNN (March 19, 2003)) - "... 'While endangering one of the most pristine areas in the world, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would do nothing to make our country more energy independent,' said Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. He said none of the oil would flow out of the refuge for 10 years...."

That was in 2003, and I guess not much has changed since then.