I saw Nancy Pelosi on on TV this week still holding the line that drilling for oil is a bad thing...her point being that a gallon of gas would only go down by 2 cents for every 1 million barrels of oil that is produced and even those savings wouldn't be realized until 10 years down the road. I don't know what prices are doing in your area but around here, gas is down to $3.71 a gallon from a high of $4.08 2 weeks ago...that is a whole lot more than 2 cents & happened a whole lot faster than "10 years down the road". Why? Simple, in has only been in the last week or so that McCain, Charlie Crist and few of the other no-drilling hold outs have softened their position on the issue. The oil producers, as a result, have blinked a bit and lowered prices. Supply & demand!! Imagine if the mere threat of drilling can lower the prices so quickly what we will be paying once the new oil is actually extracted!! Did you also notice that mortgage defaults spiked as government bail-outs were announced? With the cushion of government $$ being available folks didn't work as hard to keep those payments up to date thus perpetuating the problem.
A big pyschological effect...just mention drilling. Now Pelosi, explain me this: If drilling a million barrels wont lower prices but 2 cents, then why should we sue OPEC on Judge Judy to increase production by a million barrels a day, AND, why ask the Pres to " free our oil " , the strategic reserve oil ?? . . . . . " Don't go to college !!!! That could take years and won't help you one bit tommorow !! " " We are hungry now, don't plant that garden, that could take months !!! "
"The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is today" - Confucius
All of this protect the gulf is nonsense. China is drilling oil in the gulf of mexico using Cuba as a base of operations. They actually have rigs on the international border and the drill/pipe line going miles into US terittory.
