Go Bush, Go!
I am not a Bush-supporter in general, and some libertarians might object to this move on procedural terms (worrying about a what they believe is a "power grab" by the executive branch of government), but still, I must applaud the decision by President Bush to sign an excutive order lifting the ban on offshore drilling. I am not an expert on U.S. law, so I am not sure what possibilities the Democratic Congress have to reimpose the ban, but I hope they won't succeed. While this won't be enough to bring down fuel costs to a more reasonable level, it will certainly help.
I should also mention that John McCain, who I've previously criticized for siding with the Democrats on this issue, have actually flip-flopped (flip-flopps aren't always bad as this case illustrates) on this issue to the right side and now supports offshore drilling. While I still have serious reservations about McCain and certainly don't like him per se, that is another reason for believing he is a lesser evil than Obama, who denounced the decision to allow offshore drilling.
UPDATE: Having looked into it, it seems that this executive order only repeals the previous executive order imposed by his father in 1990. A Congressional decision will still be needed for it to become law, and that unfortunately looks very unlikely given the current Democratic majority.
This means that the ban will remain effectively in place, which in turn means that fuel prices will remain hig.
I should also mention that John McCain, who I've previously criticized for siding with the Democrats on this issue, have actually flip-flopped (flip-flopps aren't always bad as this case illustrates) on this issue to the right side and now supports offshore drilling. While I still have serious reservations about McCain and certainly don't like him per se, that is another reason for believing he is a lesser evil than Obama, who denounced the decision to allow offshore drilling.
UPDATE: Having looked into it, it seems that this executive order only repeals the previous executive order imposed by his father in 1990. A Congressional decision will still be needed for it to become law, and that unfortunately looks very unlikely given the current Democratic majority.
This means that the ban will remain effectively in place, which in turn means that fuel prices will remain hig.
posted by stefankarlsson at 9:13 PM
2 Comments:
On the other hand it will remain far easier to increase the supply of greenbacks than the supply of oil.
The main reason behind the skyrocketing oil price is of course monetary inflation, as you have already pointed out.
In my opinion, even if they allow offshore drilling (which will happen eventually anyway...) it will only be a temporary fix. I firmly believe that higher oil prices are a permanent thing, but this is not necessarily bad: It forces people to question their driving habits and also spurs more investment in alternative, cleaner forms of energy.
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