Energy prices -- thanks Mr. president

The signs are multiplying that the cost of energy is rising again in the USA. Electricity rates have gone up; in certain states they are up by 20% over last year. Gasoline prices continue to rise at the pump. When i filled up my car with regular yeasterday, the price was $3.259 per gallon. People in Atlanta are lining up to get assistance with their energy bills. But none of this should be happening. Energy usage is down due to the slower economy. Oil prices are in the 80 dollar range, unlike the much higher prices that prevailed in 2008 before the crash. So how can this be?

The answer, in my opinion, is that the energy markets are responding to two pressures: first, the impending sharp decline in petroleum production in the US due to Obama's ban on essentially all off shore drilling, and second, the bits of the cap and trade program that have made their way into law. Energy markets cannot function in the US with quick supply increases or decreases. The price is the mechanism that ultimately sets production levels, but it works slowly, over mony months and years. the reason for this is that a new gas/oil well, once drilled, is rarely taken out of production until it runs dry. The investment in the well is simply too great to shut it down. The same is true of coal mines, hydroelectric dams and essentially all other sources of energy. As a result, when Obama stops off shore drilling and cuts off a big future source of energy supply, he is dooming the country to an evergy shortage for many years to come. We simply cannot make up the shortfall of energy production quickly -- so the PRICE RISES AND STAYS UP! To make matters worse, certain parts of the country have adopted programs which are a variant of cap and trade. California and the North East have portions of that dubiouss program in place to combat man made global warming, a phenomenon that is looking more and more like some liberal religious belief and less and less like a scientific reality. The programs too have the necessary result of soaring energy prices.

The ubiquitous effect of higher energy prices is slower economic growth or a return to recession. This is not a belief, it is a fact, a reality with which we all must deal. So, as the higher energy prices kick in and economic growth goes south, it truly is time to say "Thank you Mr. President for all you have done to destroy prosperity!"