By: Todd Knode
Today the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held hearings with a number of oil and gas company executives. The topic: “probe the causes and solutions to America’s oil dependence.” Congress by its nature is a mixture of law and politics; laws are written and passed of course because of political reasons. But today’s hearing was all politics with no legal action forthcoming.
A government can act to affect a product’s price through taxes and other indirect legislation and can forbid monopolies and price gouging in emergencies such as hurricanes but Congress cannot pass laws ordering companies to lower their prices. What would Congress like Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron to lower their prices too; $3 a gallon, $2 a gallon? What economic factors does Congress want the companies to take into account when deciding how much to charge? The only real reason to hold today’s hearing was an attempt to shame the oil companies to lower their prices.
Congress does not need to hold a hearing to determine how and why we are addicted to oil. If the Members watch the news during the morning and evening rush hours they will see why. The US is not alone in having traffic choked highways and China and India, with their billion plus populations, are now awakening to the idea of one car per person.
The laws of the United States do not control the rise in oil prices, the law of supply and demand does. This is not news though, oil prices have risen sharply over the past decade, and Congress has held hearing after hearing to probe the issue. Oil prices will keep going up because car production and car driving will keep going up. No Omnibus Spending Bill will stop it but more hearings may give Americans the false assumption Congress holds the solution.
Lindsey O'Neill is the Director of Legal Content and Strategic Development at LawInfo.com. Ms. O'Neill is a California licensed attorney based in La Jolla and experienced in a wide variety of legal and business matters.
Congress can look to itself for the reason for our dependence on foreign oil.
1. They ban drilling
2. The passage of the Public Utility Holding Company Act by Congress forced utilities to divest themselves of streetcar lines. The newly independent lines then had to purchase electricity at full price from their former parents, shaving their already thin margins that much more and helping lead to the collapse of the electric streetcar system.
3. Many legislatures and leaders — heavily lobbied by automakers — sought to accelerate mode shift from streetcars and railroads and toward cars and trucks, promoted by the automobile industry as instruments of progress. Massive expenditures for highway construction to support the new one person/one car philosophy of transportation followed.
If you increase reliance on the internal combustion engine which depends on oil and oil alone, then pass laws to make it unprofitable to acquire the fuel for it ourselves, you inevitably increase reliance on oil for gasoline from outside our own resources.
Electricity can come from a variety of power sources. Gasoline cannot.
Then, what’s fun is our politicians blame the American people for being greedy pigs and driving cars too much.
Everything the government meddles with gets screwed up. That’s how wars get started – over things like resources, access to trade and transportation usually.
What fools these mortals be!
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