Environmentalists and high gas

Saturday, May 24, 2008

I find it interesting that so many people are so eager to blame environmentalists, at least partly, for our high gas prices because when you think about it more indepth it really makes no sense.
One argument I have heard is that because of environmental regulations, partly pushed through by the environmental lobby, the costs of building a new refinery (or any other type of energy producing facility) is now simply too expensive. I say bull shit. Look at how many products and production facilities have regulations. For example, in the vehicle industry every vehicle that is produced MUST have seatbelts and MUST pass numerous other safety ratings. Have they caused vehicle prices to skyrocket? No, inflation is the biggest cause of that (the good type of inflation by the way). Safety regulations in the mining industry and every other industry haven’t caused their costs to skyrocket. In fact they have probably SAVED money in terms of reduced medical costs from on the job injuries.
Another I have heard is that because environmental regs won’t let oil drilling be allowed in certain areas unless they can be proven low environmental impact, or simply because areas are in national parks/monuments. Again this is a bull shit argument and you need look no farther than the logging industry. The government has restricted where, when, and how logging can take place and yet lumber hasn’t shot up in price the way oil has. In fact without these regulations the industry could easily log themselves out of work until new trees were planted and grew enough to be cut. What good is clear cutting when you can rapidly cut yourself out of work with the practice?
Now back to the heart of the matter. I feel that the BIGGEST reason no new refineries have been built in the U.S. for over 30 years is simply a matter of profit. Oil companies aren’t stupid and they know that if they increase refining capacity then they risk lowering their profits because of an abundance of refined oil (gasoline, diesel, etc). If the cost to build a refinery was the same price today as it was in say 1960, would the oil companies build new ones? I highly doubt it, even if it was cheaper. They are recording record profits and are going to do as little as possible to keep it that way. Not building new refineries and saying “it’s too expensive because of environmental regulations” is the easiest way to do it.
One last, and somewhat related point, is that regardless of your views on global warming, no one should be against improving our air and reducing emissions. We all breathe the same air and we all should do everything we can to keep it as clean and natural as possible. It’s no different than your wife or mom saying clean up your room, house, etc. Yes it can get annoying but what would it look like if you didn’t? Clothes, trash, and all other shit would just continue to accumulate and make that room or house impossible to live in if it didn’t get clean. So why would we want the house we all share to get that shitty? The sooner we clean up, the better we all will be.