The Vicious Cycle of Environmentalist Policy

I swear to God, the enviro-activist left has really got us playing "Spin The Wheel, Make the Deal". I'll bullet point this to make it really simple.

- Environmentalist lobby pushes for increased production and research into Ethanol.
- Demand for corn goes up, pushes prices skyward.
- Farmers see the gold mine in corn crops, many switch to corn from wheat. This causes the United States to import wheat to meet it's own needs for the first time since the late 18th Century. Thus, the price of anything wheat-based (everything from bread to beer) goes up.
- Increase in corn price increases price of Ethanol itself, along with feed for cows.
- Ethanol-infused gasoline goes up in price due to increase in Ethanol price...price of beef goes up because farmers must pay more to feed their cows.
- Increased gasoline prices force increased shipping costs, which increase the price of ALL shipped goods.
- Shortage of American wheat production causes us to lose favor with all of the 3rd World Nations we would normally export wheat to.
- Democrats state that we are not a good member of the world community because we're not helping to feed the 3rd World...even though the shortage of American food exports is their fault.

Now, let's say this continues, and either Clinton or Obama is elected President. Here's what happens next...

- Media reports about starving children in Africa, state that it is the fault of "greedy rich people".
- Liberal Americans feel guilty, want the Government to "do something".
- Democrats state they will fix this (and everything else) by raising taxes on the "rich"...even though "rich" to them (according to the circulating Dem tax plan post-Bush Administration) is now any single person making over $33,000/year, or any married couple making a combined $45,000/year.
- More Americans in need of financial assistance for various reasons due to increased prices in goods and increased taxes....so the Democrats spend more money to relieve these troubled Americans. To cover costs, they raise taxes even more.
- Increased costs of production, shipping, and taxation force many companies to take jobs elsewhere, forcing millions of Americans into unemployment...thus repeating the previous bullet point.
- Rinse and repeat.

Scary, isn't it?

Good News for Drivers

Several processing units at a number of American oil refineries are coming back online to near-full productivity after mulitple incidents at various plants caused serious reductions in output and decreased the stockpiles of gasoline...which has contributed to the high gas prices we currently face. With Independence Day just around the corner and the summer driving season kicking into full swing, this is coming at the best possible time for motorists.

Among those being restarted by the July 4th holiday...a 240,000 barrel-per-day crude processing unit at the Exxon Mobil plant in Beaumont, Texas and a 75,000 barrel-per-day unit at BP's plant in Whiting, Indiana. A second unit at the Whiting plant is still under repairs due to a fire that occurred there in April.

Expect gas prices to decrease.

Feeling "Gassed"

A lot of talk has gone around recently about how Americans are nowhere near the "tipping point" for changes in gasoline consumption habits. We're told we need to ride bikes, don't make unnecessary trips, walk, carpool, buy hybrids that are thousands of dollars more than the regular models.

If you feel bombarded by all of this, you're not alone.

What I've gathered from all of this is that most Americans had pretty much cut out the unecessary trips. We go to the store to get necessities. We drive our kids to their babysitters, their schools, their football and baseball practice. We drive to work and back.

My driving includes a 40-45 mile round trip to work, and once a week I drive an extra 30 miles round-trip to meet my parents, so they can watch my child overnight, and my wife meets them at the same place to pick him up...and her daily round-trip to work is similar to mine. I have nobody to carpool with. My only other ventures in my car usually involve going to the grocery store. Other than that, I pretty much go nowhere.

I think most people fit a similar description. They've cut out the Sunday drives, cut back on the visits to family that aren't nearby, and mostly drive out of necessity.

So, when 7 out of 10 Americans say that they won't skip their summer trip because of current gas prices...it's because they've been patient, and earned that break from the monotony caused by necessity-only driving, not because they're selfish and stubborn.