Environmental Elitism Plus Run-Away Oil Profits Equal Squeeze On Middle Class

RFFM.org Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza

I have a very close friend who worked in the oil industry for many years.  Let's call him Joe.  Joe started working in the oil fields of foreboding places like North Dakota as a roughneck where temperatures regularly reached forty degrees below zero or more in the winter.  In the summer, the weather was not forgiving either.  Frequently, the thermometer topped 100 degrees in the shade, but the derricks never shut down because the oil had to keep flowing.

In later years, Joe worked his way up into management where he learned the ins and outs of the oil industry.  Therefore, when I criticized companies like Exxon--which made nearly $10.5 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2008 alone--Joe would become very defensive.  Joe explains to me how the oil industry is rewarded for its financial risks with the profits they make.  And, when things don't go right, the industry has to eat its losses--which can total hundreds of millions dollars, i.e., due to the destruction of drilling facilities because of storms in the Gulf of Mexico or exploration which does not result in the finding of new oil deposits.  Subsequently, I'm told the highest profits in history made by private companies are justified.

At the same time, we have environmentalists who see escalating oil prices as a good thing.  Remember, these groups find themselves on the Left of the political spectrum.  They are the same people who, supposedly, care about the poor.  These groups tell us high oil prices will help wean Americans off of fossil fuels, like gasoline.  Former Vice-president Al Gore looks forward to the day when prices at the pump will top off at $7 or $8 per gallon.  I suppose the oil industry looks forward to those days with the same zeal, but for different reasons.  Unfortunately, a huge segment of the American population is stuck in the middle of this madness and there seems to be no way out in the foreseeable future.

Of course, there are simple resolutions to the problem that can, at the very least, lesson the burden on working-class Americans.  Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton have suggested a "gas-tax holiday" which would suspend the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax and the 24.4 cent per gallon diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  McCain would also like to stop adding to the Strategic Oil Reserve which would increase supply.  In theory, McCain's plan regarding the Strategic Oil Reserve would bring gasoline prices down even further.

Most economists say McCain and Clinton's proposal would only be a temporary fix and, for the long term, there needs to be a change in America's energy policy.  In contrast, Barack Obama is against the federal gas-tax holiday because he says $50 or $60 worth of savings at the pump wouldn't mean very much.  Excuse me?  It wouldn't mean very much?  To who?  Why didn't he just simply say, "let them eat cake"?  I know Obama has never had to worry about filling up his ride at the local Shell station.  I'm sure his chauffeur takes care of such menial tasks for him.  Obama just peels off a C-note from his Congressional budgetary expense account and, as he makes a call to his spiritual guru, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's chauffeur drives him to his private jet which is gassed up and waiting on the airport tarmac of whatever city the junior Senator from Illinois is in that day.  Hardly the common man, is he?

But this is the very attitude many liberal elitists have towards their fellow citizens who they care so much about.  Well, at least that's what they tell us.  You see these defenders of the poor also expect senior citizens on fixed incomes to buy environmentally-friendly light bulbs at $4 or $5 a pop.  At the same time, the inner city poor--if they are fortunate enough to have a car--are put on a guilt trip because they don't drive hybrids.  And let's not forget about alternative energy like solar and wind power.  Can you just see it?  People who are struggling to buy food and medicine, and in order to be good stewards of the planet, should install windmills in their back yards, so they can feel good about themselves.  Now, if many of these people had back yards and could afford these environmentally-friendly luxuries, they would probably join the Al Gore set.  However, this isn't a realistic view of the situation most Americans are in.

What is the answer?  We might begin by opening up desolate areas of Alaska to responsible exploration and extraction of oil.  ANWR comes to mind?  Then, we might start tapping some of the offshore oil reserves on both coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico.  Perhaps we could follow that up by allowing the construction of more oil refineries.  And, finally, the EPA could lesson its requirements on multiple gasoline blends for different parts of the country and for each season, too--which also drives up costs at the pump.

Oh and what about nuclear energy?  Some European nations, which many on the Left admire, actually obtain a vast majority of their power from nuclear energy.  Heaven forbid!  Parlez-Vous Français?

The suggestions above would cause most radical environmentalists to go into cardiac arrest, but these reasonable suggestions wouldn't get very far in a Democratic-controlled Congress any way.  Heck, none of these solutions were enacted under a Republican House and Senate with a Republican president in office to boot.

I know, oil companies are in business to make a profit.  Indeed, much of the blame for record oil prices can be placed on Wall Street speculators who are driving up gasoline costs, in order to put more money in their pockets.  Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.  But I guess these people can afford the higher pump prices, too.

Perhaps the truth is oil companies are greedy and so are the speculators.  On the other hand, the radical environmentalists are hypocrites who care little about the less fortunate in our society.   And the politicians?  Well, enough said.  Anybody have a carbon credit?  And can you trade them in for bonus bucks at the BP station down the block?

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