The extravagance at the pumpBy Nathan Furness Never in my life have I heard so much complaining about the expenses of operating a motorized vehicle than during this past summer. It seemed no matter where I went, I heard irritated complaining about the prices of gas that seemingly everybody in America was stricken with. I found myself at times annoyed by the triple digit price tags that shook my bank account every time I filled up. This was not the result solely of one factor. The war in Ukraine, inflation, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 outbreak all played roles in bringing these record prices to the pump. But all these factors combined brought about the global supply chain crisis that to this day continues to influence America’s economy. The supply crises kept gas from being readily available for importation, which led to a decrease in supply, which in turn brought about the increased prices. America has not always struggled with producing its own gasoline, but over the past year its numbers have decreased drastically. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. is currently importing more oil from its the top five petroleum trading countries than it is exporting to these countries and others. Imports from these countries account for about 72% of total gross petroleum imports for the U.S. These numbers explain how America’s inability to import gasoline during the past year brought about the painfully high gas prices we all remember. But why did production go so far down for the U.S. in the first place? There are several reasons which are all connected to the policies that shut down production. In order for companies to drill oil in the United States, they need drilling permits. Since being elected, President Biden has sharply decreased the number of drilling permits given out, which has caused oil production rates to drop. Not only that, but Biden cancelled some of America’s biggest oil pipelines including the Keystone XL. According to CNBC, the pipeline carried around 830,000 barrels of oil a day to the middle of the country, a number that makes up roughly 10% of all U.S. oil production. With this major artery of American oil being shut down, the U.S. struggled to maintain gasoline supply to the middle of the country. And because gas is something that almost all businesses use to a certain extent, a vast number of Americans felt the repercussions of these actions. As detrimental to the American society as these moves were, they did provide some advantages for Biden’s campaign. Many of his supporters are environmentalists so his action to restrict drilling pleased many of them. However, the opportunity cost to pleasing his supporters was the high gas prices we witnessed during the past year. Presidents constantly battle with choices like these that have opportunity costs of support from their party’s base. In the end, I believe Biden should never have shut down pipelines and decreased the number of drilling permits given out because it would have been beneficial to all Americans that they not pay over $5.00 for every gallon of gas. Presidents need to be more careful with the policy they enforce that is pushed by their party’s base. Political parties have their own sets of ideas and policies that are rarely questioned by their leaders. These policies often have outside factors in mind, such as the environment, and can lead to economic crises, like the one my bank account is still recovering from. This is Nathan Furness’ first contribution to Enter Stage Right. (c) 2022 Nathan Furness
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