Ever since Democrats took control of Congreses, energy prices have spiked. I’m not implying that they’re the sole reason for the spike but I can make a pretty strong argument that they haven’t helped solve the problem, either. I’ll let David Anderson make that case by simply quoting from this article. Here’s the premise for his argument:

“The price keeps changing but not the reasons for the rally,” said Adam Sieminski, Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist, in Washington. “Until the fundamental supply and demand levers start to shift and the psychology changes we will continue to see new records.”

We aren’t doing anything to increase production. In fact, Democrats are saying no to increasing production. Their entire ‘energy plan’ is to increase CAFE standards (conservation) and develop alternative energies. That won’t cut it. Limiting our options is the energy equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Let’s be clear about this. I don’t have a problem with conservation measures and I don’t have a problem creating alternative energies. What I have a problem with is sticking with an either/or plan that doesn’t change the supply/demand ratio. I’ve always been a proponent of an ‘all of the above’ approach. We must build more refineries. We must drill in ANWR and off the Gulf Coast off the California coast. We must make greater utilization of clean coal and nuclear technologies. We must stop planning on grain-based ethanol as an alternative energy because it’s disrupting world food supplies, which, in turn, is driving up food prices.

The Democrats’ so-called energy bill does nothing on any of those fronts. It doesn’t increase refinery capacity. It doesn’t incent investors to build nuclear or clean coal power plants.

Simply put, we need to grow our way out of this situation. We can’t dig ourselves out of this situation just with conservation.

Technorati Tags: Energy, Ethanol, Refineries, Nuclear Power, Conservation, CAFE Standards, Alternative Energy, Democrats, ANWR

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. Socialists do not understand the market factor, nor do they really want to. After all, its all evil in their religion of the great God government.

   All they care about is spreading the misery and suffering equally.

   Its part of “leveling the playing field” dont you know.

   Just wait til Obama gets in, and allows the income tax to raise back to Clintonian levels. It’ll all be fine then, you’ll see.

   Comment by T.A Gray — May 7, 2008 @ 7:17 am

2. wow you guys must be really desperate to try and pin the blame on the Democrats. How about blaming the cost of energy skyrocketing on the collapse of the dollar? Is there some way that the collapse of the dollar and its removal from the list of desire-able “hard” currency can be also be blamed on the Democrats in Congress ?

   Comment by John Ryan — May 7, 2008 @ 7:24 am

3. And really calling the conservatives the silent majority is a bit of a laugh it is more like a nearly invisible endangered minority

   Comment by John Ryan — May 7, 2008 @ 7:25 am

4. The world really would be better off without liberals. They have always been around but until the democrats went so far left, they did not have such a devistating effect on our freedoms.

   Comment by george — May 7, 2008 @ 11:43 am

5. One of the reasons the dollar is collapsing Mr. Ryan is that we are spending so much of it overseas to buy foriegn oil. Would it not make sense to produce more of our own oil and gasoline and keep more dollars in this country creating more jobs, building and operating our own refineries and transporting our own oil and generating even more tax revenue for liberals to piss away?

   Or is that just too much evil American greed and profit for you to handle?

   Comment by T. A. Gray — May 7, 2008 @ 10:37 pm

6. I don’t understand the conservative indignation about raising taxes to pay for the faltering social security system and an occupation of Iraq you all lusted after in the first place. Who do you expect to pay for everything? Your children?

   As for energy, the booming green industry will settle in quite nicely as gas prices continue to rise over the following years. I would much rather prefer this to continued oil dependency. Liberal greed is great.

   Comment by Liem — May 8, 2008 @ 7:56 pm

7. Well, Liem, only problem I see with your ideas about energy is, how much crop land for food are you going to burn up growing corn for ethanol.

   I thought at one time you were open minded enough to see that there just might be some good points as well as bad on either side.
   I granted you that Iraq was probably a mistake, but that to summarily pull out without even trying to clean up the mess we made was naive if not dishonest and foolhardy.

   But apparently, your only like the rest of the selfish, egotistical, over educated liberal ideologues.

   Your only problem is, you see the world the way Liem thinks it ought to be and fuck anything else. Thats why I worry about the country and the kind of “leadership” my grandchildren will have to put up with.

   Comment by T. A. Gray — May 8, 2008 @ 10:42 pm

8. Whoa there, TA Gray. You’re getting a little ahead of yourself there. Nowhere did I specifically cite ethanol as the solution for alternative energy. I also never advocated for a unilateral pull-out of Iraq. Even with your perfected mind-reading skills about what us libs think, you’re obviously confusing me with someone else, so I accept your apology.

   The results from the speculation of ethanol has led to the global food shortage and subsequent riots. Future reliance on ethanol production will obviously end with disastrous consequences. What would be preferable is cars with higher mileage while new fuel technologies are given time to properly mature. In the meantime, higher gas prices will increase the rate at which these industries grow, leading to more jobs. These innovations will inevitably take place; it just depends if America can keep up.

   Leaving Iraq given the political and religious turmoil inherent in the region isn’t a good idea either. Thanks to neo-con leadership, we can’t stay and we exactly can’t leave. But what would be helpful is if those same conservatives admit their disgusting fuckups, which will never happen. I don’t presume to know what will happen in Iraq with the next presidency, but hey, conservatives have set the bar so low, the next president will be Obama.

   There you have it, TA Gray. Those are my positions, so you can take your assumptions and shove it.

   Comment by Liem — May 9, 2008 @ 2:13 pm

9. All right, consider them shoved!
   Wasnt sure how you’d answer that, but by God I cant dis you for standing up and showing some guts!

   But come on now, lets be even handed about it, NO ONE in politics will ever admit it when they screw up.

   Comment by T. A. Gray — May 10, 2008 @ 7:26 pm