Can somebody please explain to me why tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve:
LANSING, Mich. – Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan Monday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high-anxiety over gas prices.
Obama’s new proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation’s emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.
Not only did Obama push for drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he also reiterated his changing position on offshore drilling — first revealed last Friday — suggesting that he could live with it if done in an environmentally sound way and as part of a bipartisan energy compromise.
when oil prices are falling:
NEW YORK – Oil prices plunged in a massive sell-off Monday, briefly falling below $120 a barrel for the first time since early May after Tropical Storm Edouard appeared unlikely to threaten oil and natural gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Also weighing on prices was a report by the Commerce Department that consumer spending fell in June as shoppers dealt with higher prices for gasoline, food and other items. That fed investors’ beliefs that a U.S. economic slowdown is forcing Americans to cut back on energy use.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell more than $5 at one point to $119.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest level since May 6. The contract later recovered slightly, trading $3.56 lower, or 2.85 percent, at $121.54 a barrel. Crude has now fallen in six of the last nine sessions and has shaved 18 percent off its trading record of $147.27 reached July 11.
is a good idea? Besides, Americans are responding to the higher prices by changing their behavior, driving less, buying more efficient cars, and so on. This is a Good Thing.
Sen. Obama, avoid the snares of the Demon Rum, Demagoguery! Put down that bottle! Get thee behind me, Satan!
Update
Jazz Shaw is with me:
If this was a political move to assuage your base, then you are making a mistake. If you honestly think this is a good decision for our country’s future security, you’re a fool. Wake up, Senator Obama. You were doing very well. As soon as you dipped a toe in the energy debate you began trying to hamstring yourself.
Everybody sing!
Yes, the temp’rance army’s marching,
And will march forevermore,
And our triumph shall be sounded,
Round the world from shore to shore,
Sorry, I can’t explain why it would be a good idea because it’s stupid in all but a very few circumstances…and these aren’t them
There are at least three reasons it’s a good thing. First, we’ve been subsidizing gasoline consumption over the period of the last 50 years, creating market distortions. Reducing gasoline consumption begins to reverse that process. Second, our current system doesn’t deal with the negative externalities of high per capita gasoline consumption. Reduced per capita gasoline consumption, reduced externalities.
Finally, it’s hard to make a non-laughworthy case to China, India, and the countries in the developing world that they should be conserving while our per capita consumption is higher than theirs.