Energy Facts

Here in Georgia gasoline prices are coming down rather nicely. We are seeing regular at about $2.20/gallon and it is a little cheaper across the river in South Carolina. Most of this is attributed to imports from Asia and Europe. Such is not the case with natural gas. You can tell it is going to be rough when folks in the north and northeast start having to pay $600/month to heat their houses. The way you can tell is the politicians--even the Republicans like Senator Frist--are complaining about the greedy energy companies. The fact, however, is the politicians got us in this situation long ago. There was an oil spill off the coast of California near Santa Barbara in 1969 which precipitated a move to anti-business, pro-environment policies which lead to our current deficit being a "crisis" in the eye of those affected. First there was a ban on drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (think Florida beaches) that deprived us of 58 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Our annual consumption in the U.S. is about 5 trillion. The Rocky Mountain Front was declared out of bounds for drilling and there went access to 11 trillion cubic feet. Clinton took 5.6 million acres of federal land out of play and there went another trillion feet. Given the fact that gas wells do not produce oil spills which spoil beaches, the price for these political realities is going to be high.