Taken together, this long-standing unwillingness to responsibly develop our own homegrown energy resources – unique among nations in the world – has put us in a position where a small business owner in Joplin, Missouri is dependent on a stable security situation in Lagos, Nigeria to ensure a steady flow of oil to the market. Without that oil, the world supply will be diminished at about the same rate the price will go up. And it doesn’t take more than a week or two for unrest half-a-world-away to impact the way everyday Americans drive to work, feed their families, and live their lives.
Name another issue to which the United States has allowed itself to become this vulnerable, to events – and hostile nations - this far beyond its control. Energy alone represents the one core component of our country’s economic well being that’s subject to volatility in the Middle East, uprisings in West Africa, labor strikes in Britain, the whims of the weather, and even the Chinese Olympics.
Last month, Republicans in the House responded with an “all of the above” energy plan – a proposal to increase the supply of affordable energy, while also taking meaningful steps to encourage the energy we consume in our daily lives to be used better, smarter, and more efficiently. And to reward those who do.
Unfortunately, some in Washington remain tied to the dogma that responsible energy development cannot be achieved without taking a wrecking ball to the environment. Thankfully, there are also those who believe our current energy challenges aren’t to be blamed on straw men speculators or the mysticism of markets – but on a national energy policy that for years has encouraged growth in demand while working furiously to lock away new supply.
For these people, spiraling gas prices aren’t cooked up on Wall Street or in a Houston boardroom. They’re the predictable response to an energy supply landscape in which the countries with the greatest energy reserves happen to be in the most unstable, unpredictable parts of the world.
All except the United States and Canada, both of which sit atop massive supplies of energy. But while our neighbors to the north produce oil sands in Alberta, natural gas in Lake Erie, and oil off the coast of Maine, some in Congress have devoted their entire careers to preventing American companies from producing American energy for American consumers. Even as China sets up drilling rigs 45 miles from the Florida Keys.
There may be no issue that better illustrates the differences between Republicans and Democrats than energy. Consider it the “all of the above” strategy for reducing gas prices, versus the “all pain, no gain” plan for punishing those who emit carbon (like you). One plan is a carrot, the other’s a stick. And if Democrats have their way, that stick will come in the form a 2 x 4 across the back of our families, farmers, and small businesses.