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Originally Posted by Moonliner
Yet. Let gas get to $10/gallon and we'll see how fast "Yet" changes to "Now". It's not the government that will provide energy independence and it's not the rabid eco freaks either. It's the free market. The longer gas is held to artificially low levels (yes $3/gal is low) it will retard development of alternatives. So I say NO NEW WELLS, no new sources of oil, and let George fulfill his wet dreams by invading another oil producing country or two. Then let the market sort itself out and we'll be energy independent in no time.
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I go back and forth on whether I'm okay with that path. On the one hand, I totally agree. Nothing will drive innovation like truly high gas prices.
On the other hand, because the price of oil/gasoline does NOT just affect how much we pay at the pump, I worry about the wide reaching effect on the overall economy being too much to bear. Increased fuel and engery costs will affect the price of every single good bought and sold in this country. Costs will go up in every single link of the supply chain, from manufacturing, to transportation, to warehousing, to the cost of running a storefront.
The increase in oil price has thus far been modest, all things considered, and suppliers have done fairly well to not pass off their increased costs to the consumer. But that won't last much longer. I guarantee that by the time we start seeing $5+/gallon at the pump, the cost of living in this country will start to take a serious hit. And I shudder to think what that will mean for the level of poverty.