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08/31/2005: "The Storm Heard 'Round The World"

High Gas Prices.... Oil Futures.... Energy Crisis....

I just went out to get some unleaded gasoline for my lawn mower this evening. It is the 2nd time this summer I have had to do so. I have a small yard, and my mower gets good gas milage I guess.

I paid $3.19 a gallon.

It could be worse. (but can't you always say that?) I've seen pictures of gas stations down south that say almost $6 a gallon.

The human suffering down in Louisiana and Mississippi is unimaginable. That much we know for sure. Dateline NBC certainly made sure its viewers are aware, as they gave a very difficult report of the suffering and deteriorating conditions.

If you didn't catch Dateline, the one big thing you might have noticed since the hurricane is the jump in the price of a gallon of gas. The gulf coast oil production and refining took a big hit from this storm. Now there is talk of an energy crisis around the globe from this storm. The rising cost of fuel in the U.S. will surely cause more competition for already limited refinery products around the world.

Wait a minute. Limited refinery products?? Why aren't there more refineries? Why are we still so dependent on oil if we aren't willing to produce the hell out of it? Nuclear Power is safe. There is also hydro-electric power, and wind farms.

While Katrina was a big storm - one of the biggest - why are we in the position where one storm can cause a WORLD ENERGY CRISIS?

Politicians and tree huggers everywhere are mobilizing to fully exploit this storm as well. Jacob, from The Flatiron Life, first led me to James K. Glassman's column he wrote blasting these exploiters that claim Katrina is directly the result of human-caused Global Warming and that the current administration is directly to blame for this.

The "Global Warming Alarmists" need to get a clue. They are just jumping on the "blame America first" bandwagon that is circling the globe. As the world's lone superpower, we are expected to both butt out of foreign affairs, and police/repair things around the world.

I'm sorry, but we let the Terrorists bring the fight to America too much already. I say continue to bring the fight to them, away from American civilians and property. I say help the Iraqis start the democratic process. (It worked out for Japan and Germany didn't it?) I say lets tap into the vast regions of oil we have here in our country and develop a more robust refining capacity.

I'm all for alternative energy if it is feasible, which is why I will mention nuclear energy. I'm not saying convert everything to Nuclear, but it is there, why not use it more?

I think one lesson that should come out of this disaster is that we need a diverse, robust, and aggressive U.S. energy policy. The modern world is built on energy, and it has been taken for granted far too long.