Gas Prices - Three Things President Obama could do to Decrease Gas Prices- But Will He?
What is driving up our gas prices?
There are several factors that play in to increasing gas prices in America. Heightened tensions in the Middle East, higher foreign demand, upcoming summer months, and Oil Speculators are just a few.
Middle East Tensions: The recent tensions in both in Syria and Egypt along with the current problems in Iran have all contributed to increases in oil prices.
Higher Foreign Demand: China's crude oil demands reached record highs in February 2012 - making gas a hotter than usual commodity.
Summer's Coming: Since the federal government and the Department of Energy decided to regulate the mixtures of gasoline to decrease pollution during summer months - we will always pay more for gas this time of year.
Oil Speculators: Many believe, myself included, that the oil speculators are the major reason why gas prices have been so high in recent years. Speculators are investors who trade market shares on oil that they have no intention of ever using. They make money by hedging or equivocating that prices will go higher in the very near future.
What can Obama Do?
The three things that Obama, as President of the United States can do to decrease prices at the pump are allowing more drilling in the U.S. both offshore and on land, enforcing the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010, and /or forcing the Speculators take possesion of any oil they invest in.
How would these action help?
Allow more US oil drilling: well this is easy, more drilling allows for more oil in our Country. This also creates more higher paying jobs for a lot of Americans.
Enforcing the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act (EWSTAA) of 2010: The EWSTAA contains major reforms that require full transparency of investment transactions, expand the enforcement powers of regulatory agencies, and prohibit large banks from using excessive amounts of capital to invest in risky derivative products such as oil.
Force the Speculators take possesion of any oil they invest in: If Obama will not enforce the EWSTAA then this is another way to stop all of the gambling with our oil prices. The investors should be mandated to take possesion of all the oil they purchase. Not many of these speculators could physically store all of their purchased oil.
In Summary
There is no question that our gas prices have escalated tremendously in the last few years. Much of this is due to the Oil Speculators. President Obama has options he can enforce to alleviate the pain at the pump. Let's make sure he gets the message that we want lower gas prices.
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Comments
AUTHORAn - I love freedom of speech and I respectflly disagree with your statement that oil drilling is environmentally damaging and therefore we should not do it. Nature is ever forgiving and oil is a natural resource we should take advantage of instead of being at the mercy of those countries who drill it and sell it to us at outrageous prices. We have ample oil supplies available to us - lets us them.
Considering the very finite, and environmentally damaging nature of oil drilling, I don't see how that would be a fix. It strikes me as being as much of a solution as putting a band-aid on a broken bone.
- AUTHOR
Ghost - That is the BEST one thing he can do and I am hoping to help him with my vote come November!
You forgot one. The most effective thing Obama can do to lower gas prices is to get soundly defeated in November. If he does just that one thing, we'll be back to $50 oil and $2 gas by February '13.
- AUTHOR
Thank you AV I will definitely check out your Hubs! We all need to do what we can to end Obama's reign....
CL
First, welcome to HP and I wish you good writing here.
You hit on 3 good places for Obama to start, unfortunately, this is what Obama wanted so I doubt he will do anything except to release some of the reserves to try and bring the price down some before the election. I have written about what the President can do as well. I hope you go check out my article. Up and Awesome
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