I am unable post as much as I normally do because I have a full teaching schedule today (yes, as a substitute teacher). Right now I happen to have a few minutes free and just noticed another spike in the price of oil (2:00 p.m. CST, Friday, March 4, 2011).
I have no idea what the pundits on CNBC are saying that explains this most recent spike, but I'm sure it has to do with the weak dollar and the continuing violence in the Mideast.
But it's not that; the dollar can't possibly be that much weaker today than it was yesterday that would cause such a spike in the price of oil, especially considering the "good" jobs report this morning. And it certainly cannot be the violence in the Mideast. After all, less than a "millionpointfive" barrels of oil per day have been taken off the global market due to Libya and Saudi Arabia can easily make up the difference (they say). [I don't agree that Saudi Arabia can easily make up the difference, but that's another story for another day.]
No, the reason for the spike in the price of oil is that there is no Plan B.
The administration's Plan A for energy independence was wind and solar power. There was no Plan B for a "perfect storm" causing a spike to $1XX/bbl, or, heaven forbid, $2XX/bbl.
This administration's policy is never let a crisis go to waste, and its energy policy has now become a game of chicken.
[When we were teenagers, we would play "chicken" on our bicycles. Two males on bicycles would set up about a city block from each other, and then on "start" would race madly toward each other. It was the "chicken" who would turn first to avoid collision, to avoid disaster.]
The administration is playing "chicken" with the American consumer.
The administration is seeing how high the price of oil goes before the consumer says "enough is enough." As noted before, there is no shortage of oil in this country. The tanks are brimming at Cushing, Oklahoma. The "perfect storm" is caused by the perception that there will be a shortage of oil going forward, six months from now. (The Steven Chu effect.)
There are things this administration could do right now to reassure the Americans that there is plenty of oil. Remember: the Cushing tanks are more than full, and no one has even hinted that there is a need to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
But never let a crisis go to waste. See how far we can push this and Americans will demand more wind energy, more solar energy, and more electric vehicles. That's Plan A. Unfortuntely there is no Plan B.
