Gas in Linn is hovering just above $2 a gallon, about half of the highs we’ve seen in recent years.
Gas is relatively low at this time because there is an abundant worldwide supply, due to greatly increased oil production in the U.S. At this time we are the leading producer in the world.
The U.S. economy is doing well, and most nations are seeing their economies grow. In the past this meant oil prices would shoot up because of the demand caused by economic growth. But that is not happening now.
The Great Recession that began in 2008 was triggered primarily by the collapse of the housing market, but it was certainly exacerbated by sky-high gasoline prices that took a lot of money out of the pockets of consumers. By July, 2008, oil speculators drove oil prices to a high of $145 per barrel. By the end of the year the price had dropped to $35.59.
Political uncertainly also caused price hikes in the past, and while we’ve got considerable uncertainty now, prices remain low.
Oil supplies are abundant, without a doubt, because of the policies of Donald Trump, who has supported horizontal drilling (fracking) and pipelines. It is also without doubt, that oil prices will go up if any of the Democratic candidates are elected president. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard have promised to prohibit fracking, while the others have called for serious regulation.
The opposition to fracking comes primarily as a result of concerns over climate change. Climate change alarmists want all fossil fuels eliminated. First, I think climate change is as big a hoax as Russian collusion and as phony as the charges leveled against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
But even if climate change is real and is caused by fossil fuels, China and most other countries are not going to discontinue their use of fossil fuels. The U.S. will be the victim of any international attempt to control fossil fuels. We will suffer a double whammy – loss of the oil production revenues, including jobs and royalty payments to landowners, and much higher prices at the pump.
There is another, and possibly even more serious consequence. Our worst enemies would benefit greatly from a ban on drilling. The Russian and Iranian economies are paying a dreadful price because U.S. oil production has forced down oil prices. Due to low oil revenues, the Iranian economy is on the verge of collapse and the Russian economy is anything but robust. The radical members of Congress claim Trump’s policies help Putin. That man would enjoy nothing more than to see an a large reduction in our oil production.
While we’re talking about Putin and Russia, consider the lies we’ve heard from the media and from the Pelosi-Schiff-Schumer crowd about Russian collusion and the impeachment of Donald Trump, and for good measure throw in the counting of the Democratic election results in Iowa. Does any of this make you inclined to believe these same folks when they scream about the dangers of climate change? Even if man-made climate change exists – and I don’t believe it does – could these guys be trusted to do anything about it?
The coronavirus that is currently threatening society is thought to have developed in a marketplace in Wuhan, China, that deals in poultry, seafood, other meat, and live animals, including chickens, donkeys, sheep, pigs, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs, and snakes. The markets are called “wet markets” because the live critters are slaughtered at the market in front of customers. This practice is considered dangerous because it lends itself to the spread of disease. Apparently bat meat is not sold in these markets, but the disease is thought to have originated in bats and then passed on to other creatures.
Business Insider magazine recently had an interesting story on the market. It includes many photos. Google “business insider coronavirus wet markets photos.”
The story our media elites and the Pelosi-Schiff-Schumer crowd fail to emphasize is that here in the U.S., their policies of encouraging an increase in the number of homeless are helping replicate the type of highly-dangerous conditions that exist in Chinese markets.
Consider this statement from the Los Angeles Times: “Rotting trash and human waste from people living in tent encampments on city sidewalks has turned parts of the city into dangerous cauldrons for disease and rat infestation.”
The Times was talking about Los Angeles, but San Francisco may be even more at risk. Gov. Newsom of California blames the state’s 130,000 homeless people on Texas, but even the liberal fact-checkers label this as totally unfounded. Liars are abundant, but it appears the Golden State has more than its share.
