This topic has been all over the news this summer, and I’m sick of it.

Here’s the gist of it:

Gas prices are up roughly $3 since Bush entered office in 2000.

People want lower prices. What else is new. (Though Americans forget that Europeans and others have been paying prices this high for a while)

Republicans offer more offshore drilling as a solution to high prices — supply & demand, yada yada yada.

Some democrats point to lands already owned by oil companies that aren’t being drilled. “Why not?” they ask. Oil companies probably aren’t stupid (profit driven and careless, but not stupid), they drill where prospects are good — so maybe already owned land is just not as productive as offshore, or just not worth the start up costs. Who knows.

My conclustion: More drilling offshore will NOT lower prices in the immediate future — it’s a global market. Our oil is just a drop in the global bucket.

Republicans want to “give people credit” (that’s their way of pandering to public outcry) and say most Americans understand the issues — they don’t, sadly.

Let me repeat that part above for emphasis–More drilling offshore will not lower prices in the immediate future — it’s a global market.

Thankfully the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is blocking a vote to lift the ban on offshore drilling.

Popular opinion is leaning towards lifting the ban, but really people just want to see some action because their wallets are hurting. Poor us. We consume more than everyone else on the planet, and now we have to pay more to do it and we want to cry about it. I say we need to suck it up until we come up with a real solution to energy needs. (Yes, I have a car too)

Now Obama is wavering on the offshore drilling issue. He was opposed to it, but now he’s open to it for the sake of politics? He’s said he’d be open to limited drilling as part of a compromised bill that would include other emissions regulations and whatnots. And since he’s such a “celebrity” now, the pundits are saying that Speaker Pelosi is on the unpopular end of this debate, and is making a mistake by not at least letting it go to a vote. Why do pundits say the democrats are fumbling on this issue? Because polls say over half the country wants to open up offshore drilling? For crying out loud, what’s wrong with the best answer being the unpopular one? The ban is only unpopular because no one’s come out and shut everyone up with some convincing reasons why the offshore drilling idea is nonsense. Why don’t people get it? Am I missing something?

I support Nancy Pelosi and her decision to block a vote on offshore drilling. The scientists and engineers all agree that it would be years before any new rigs would start contributing oil to the market, and even when they did it would be such a small percentage of the market as to render little effect on the price.

Yes, prices are high. Yes, people want lower prices. But give me a break, people — why do we have to pander to the illogical? And why can’t the media help clear the air on this issue, rather than capitalizing on the confusion? I’ve seen some news reports getting it right, but many still merely copy cat public outcry and then sit on the sidelines as the politics takes over.

Sure, opening up offshore drilling wouldn’t be catastrophic or anything, but it’s a matter of principle. It wont help, and it’s a step in the opposite direction from where we need to be going. We should be lowering our need for oil, not investing in more ways of getting it.

As for Obama — I hope he doesn’t continue to water down his messages.

So, I know it’s only $38 a ticket, but something about mitigation hearings make me feel civic, despite how lame parking tickets are to begin with.  The only thing worse than a parking ticket, is another parking ticket.

Since I’ll be out of town during my designated hearing date, I’m choosing to mitigate my charges by written statement.  I couldn’t decide whether or not to really ham it up, or to just make it short and to the point.

Any predictions on what the result will be?

Wayne Morse just became one of my new heroes. I love this guy and I’ve only seen him on a couple of old clips. The way he speaks about his understanding of the Constitution and the power of the people in relation to the president is not common among American politicians, much to my dismay.

I know it’s old hat to talk about mistakes our government has made, but hearing Senator Morse reminds me that it is our lack of reflection on the past that has allowed us to let our government make so many mistakes. It’s easy to blame the knuckleheads in D.C. for their foolishness and lack of respect for the people, but in a democratic system such as ours we can only blame ourselves, the American people.

Sounds like a downer, I know. This is only an observation, not a forecast. I’ve had a general apathy for politics and matters of consequence for a while, but not out of a lack of interest. It was hard to stay focused on something that seemed out of my realm of impact, but now I think that’s a cop out. I think the democracy Senator Morse spoke about is based on the idea that people should take an interest in what’s going on and seek out the facts in situations, so that when we speak we speak from a position of comprehension and analysis.

Now we just have to go through the tedious process of finding the good information out of the noise…

[mind wandering to ideas for topics about information technology, "the media", general inquisitiveness, etc.]

Credit and liability for this writing endeavor go to Falty for his encouragement.