Tamanon said:
Education is key it seems on this issue.
Well, and there in lies a huge problem with some issues. One of the things that frustrates me the most about this oil situation is how difficult it is to just understand the basics because they're buried underneath political agendas. Okay, McCain and Obama are making their case for how to solve the energy crisis. Excellent. But before we start critiquing their proposals, how about we start from the beginning and get to the bottom of how it is that we got here. Let's pretend that it's not an election year, and that I'm your typical, uninformed Joe Consumer who wants to understand why he's gone from paying $1.50 a gallon back in 2000 to $4.00+ in 2008. I'm not interested in finger-pointing, I'm not shouting at my Congressman to fix it, I just want to know why it's happening. So far, I've discovered several ideas:
1. It's simple supply and demand market principles at work. You mix a little instability in the governments that are the source of the supply with increased demand from developing nations, and of course you're going to see a spike. But fear not, because in due time the market will correct this trend and supply will go back up and demand will go back down, and things will be back to normal.
2. It's a catastrophic supply and demand problem. Production has leveled out. The greatest supply areas have either already been found, or are not cost-effective enough to pursue. This means that we need to start preparing for the worst now. Supply is permanently going to start decreasing, meanwhile developing economies will dictate that demand will continue to go up exponentially. Fear the worst, folks.
3. Speculators are artificially driving the prices way up, and we're just waiting for the bubble to burst now so prices will return to normal.
4. Greedy oil barons are only getting richer and richer from this, so don't expect things to change or else it's going to hurt their bottom line.
Okay, so that's the information you'll find from various news sites and analytical debates about the issue. Some suggest that it's a huge problem that can be fixed. Some suggest that it's a huge problem that can't be fixed. And still others suggest that it really isn't a problem at all. I've gotten nowhere.
So, what have you got for me politics? Surely, my leaders are out there looking for solutions to the big problems, or at least have explanations forthcoming? No. Instead I mainly find typical partisan politics, with each side blaming the other and offering solutions that pander to what we want to hear.
And it works. Instead of discussing the real problems and solutions, often we break down into the normal ideological battle grounds that apply to every issue. Let's hear from the right: "hippie, tree-hugging liberals care more about their precious environment than they do about Joe Schmoe at the pump. We've got plenty of oil ripe for drilling, but Democrats are standing in the way." Okay, now let's hear what the left has to say: "Republicans want to destroy our environment so that they can help the rich oil barons get richer. Alternatives are the key."
Dynamite. Unfortunately, neither of these proposals attempt to provide a good, solid explanation of the problems today, nor a time-table for when the solutions will affect us. Overall, I like Obama's policies, and am an ardent Obama supporter. However, this issue in particular I think is more important than debating how it impacts politics. Getting back to what I quoted, I just hate that there's a lack of education even among the educated on this issue.
