We're pretty much in Campaign '08's silly season, with discussions about Paris Hilton and the ability to be a "secret Muslim" dominating the political discourse in the media. The one serious issue that actually has had some movement has been that of energy, mainly in the form of high gas prices. In the tradition of the Democratic/Republic breakdown of the party divide as being the party of no ideas vs. the party of bad ones, we have the McCain "solution" for the present high gas prices of offshore drilling for oil. And in the tradition of Americans not looking beyond the superficial merits of the case, we have the people supporting such an action by a 2 to 1 margin.
This is all despite the fact that:
1). The economic effect (at least in terms of gas prices) will be distant and minimal. What it boils down to is percentages and supply/demand curves not remaining static. Percentages in that the oil available offshore represents such a small percentage of world oil production, that it amounts to a negligible effect on world supply. As for supply and demand, one has to realize that the demand curve is only going to get sharper as other countries continue to develop (namely, China and India), so the effects of such a small increase in supply are negated even more.
2). Claims of "energy independence" are bullshit, because oil is sold on the world market. All that theoretical oil being pumped off of California or Florida is not guaranteed to stay in the US; it's just going to be sold to the highest bidder, regardless of location. So all this tough talk of not depending on the Saudis and so on and working on energy ourselves goes out the window.
3). The issue is not about drilling, it's about leases. As the Democratic leaders have tried to stress, there's no hold on drilling--it's just drilling in particular areas. Oil companies own leases to areas around the country that are double that of the area they're now angling for. Instead, the oil companies are taking advantage of the political situation, knowing full well that this is their last best chance to get their hands on these leases--because that's where the money is.
But that's not the part of the poll that bothers me. No, it's the fact that half of the people surveyed didn't believe that drilling would lower gas prices. That means there is at least 16 or so percent of people that are willing to drill for oil...without any potential benefit to them! The number may be even higher than that, since there are sure to be some environmentalist-types that are dead-set against drilling, even it provided such benefits.
Who are these people, and what happened to their brains?
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