The View from Thayne’s Corner
Thayne Jones

The American Elixir

If our vehicles could run on hot air we’d have an inexhaustible supply of fuel furnished by those attempting to assign blame for the high cost of oil.

Democrats blame Republicans.  Republicans blame the Democrats.  Consumers blame the oil companies.  The oil companies blame consumers. The vice president blames the Russians.  Everybody blames the Chinese, the Indians, the Nigerians, the Venezuelans and the Iranians.  Not a huge surprise.

It isn’t as though we haven’t known for years that his could happen.  Change can never come, it seems, until spurred by crisis.  And an endless war in big oil country is not just a minor influence on diminished supply and increased demand.

Why was regime change in Iraq considered more important than routing terrorists in Afghanistan?  How much does this war have to do with striking back at terrorists, or the fear of WMD’s, and how much with affecting control of oil supplies?  The families of 9/11 victims and our service people deserve to know if Iraq truly is a defensive measure or opportunity seized in a moment of high emotion.

So who is to blame for the sudden rise in crude oil prices?  Basically, we all are.  Just as we will be (most assuredly) if we ever experience a global shortage of fresh water.

The goal of fuel efficiency and a search for alternate sources of energy was shelved sometime after the 1970’s scare and a peace accord with OPEC.  Nuclear energy generation became pass’e in this country.  Too scary!  But now we know that terrorists from big oil country can be as dangerous as radiation.

We have to sympathize with those on low incomes and tight budgets who drive to work each day.  Or our farmers whose would-be profits are going out exhaust pipes or into pricey fertilizer.

The nation’s leaders, in election years at least, talk a lot about keeping the economy strong, but conservation measures don’t sell well to have-it-all-now constituents.  So who shares most of the blame for the high price of oil - - foreign suppliers, mega oil companies, those fashioning US energy policy, or we consumers who elect them??