Market Forces, Permitoriums, and the Gas Pump Problem

by Little Miss Attila on April 25, 2011

Hot Air has some video up that you need to go watch. And:

Ending the subsidies [that is, the tax breaks for fossil-based fuel companies], as Obama demands, would have the short-term effect of raising prices at the pump, not lowering them. His argument is as incoherent as it is hypocritical, but it does highlight the over-involvement government has in energy production altogether. If Obama wants to get rid of tax breaks in the corporate tax code, then let’s get rid of all of them — and get rid of the “investments” that hide the true costs and lack of capacity in highly-subsidized renewable energy sources. At the same time, end the permitoriums and malicious red tape that restrains exploration, extraction, and refining of American energy resources. Not only will that raise tax revenues, it will spark an economic boom and restore investor confidence in America once again.

Update: The Media Research Center notes that only 1% of the national media’s stories on rising oil prices have mentioned Obama’s permitorium in the Gulf:

On April 20, 2010, a horrific oil spill took place in the Gulf of Mexico on British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon rig. Since that day, gas prices have risen nearly $1-a-gallon to $3.83 per gallon. President Barack Obama’s anti-oil policies, including a drilling moratorium are at least part of the reason for that dramatic spike. But you will rarely hear that from the mainstream media.

It certainly isn’t the story the network evening news shows have told their viewers since the oil spill. Out of 280 oil price stories since the disastrous pill, just 1 percent (3 out of 280) mentioned any connection between Obama’s anti-oil efforts, such as the drilling moratorium, and rapidly rising gas prices.

Instead of asking whether Obama’s anti-oil policies could be increasing the cost of gas, the networks blamed other factors such as Mideast turmoil or the “money game” played by speculators. Certainly, the turmoil in Libya, Egypt and surrounding nations has increased worries about oil production and can influence the price. But the networks also should have looked for explanations much closer to home.

Well, let’s just call this the media’s subsidy for Barack Obama.

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

ponce April 25, 2011 at 3:42 pm

Special Ed shilling for the oil industry?

Now that’s something you don’t see every.single.day.

Oh, wait…

Reply

Little Miss Attila April 25, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Ed believes, as I do, that we’ve run out of money with which to subsidize sham-industries like “renewables” that aren’t yet ready for the market.

Reply

ponce April 25, 2011 at 3:56 pm

LMA,

Odds are your house is being powered in part right now by a “sham” wind turbine.

Reply

Darrell April 25, 2011 at 10:31 pm

Let me correct that.
Odds are your house is being powered in part right now by a “sham” wind turbine
is significantly increasing the cost of electricity to your home, with little practical benefit and horrendous availability issues.

Reply

Texan99 April 26, 2011 at 7:24 am

I watch more Fox News than anything else (I know, sue me), and surprisingly, even on Fox there’s very little mention of the impact of the permitorium on gas prices. There’s more ignorant talk about “speculators” than I really like to hear. Be darned if I’ve ever understood what a “speculator” is — other than a trader — or what’s supposed to be wrong with it.

Reply

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