Jaw-dropping gas prices have Americans from Hawaii to the Garden State outraged. While the high prices of the almost $4 on average a gallon have an almost unanimous reaction, the majority of us are clueless as to why the prices are increasing so rapidly.
According CNNMoney.com, gas prices climbed an average of 28 cents in a span of just 10 days. These rapidly rising prices leave many Americans to speculate why this is happening. But how many people know what is actually going on in the world to cause these problems?
Media coverage has invited the world into protests in many Middle East countries including Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Egypt which are fighting against their strict regime for freedom. These countries, though rich in oil, are extremely unstable. Among all of the unrest during these protests, oil speculators worry and bid up the price in disruption of supply. This causes oil prices to increase and gas prices to hit record-breaking numbers.
With all of this international turmoil you may be wondering, what is our country doing about all of this?
The Obama Administration is talking of plans to tap into our oil reserves, an extremely rare measure taken by the government, to help ease consumer prices of gas.
According to a New York Times article published on Sunday, “five Democratic senators have called for opening the reserve, which is in several salt domes along the Gulf Coast.” The article states that the administration has been sending “mixed signals” about whether or not they will actually use the reserve oil, which has been used typically during disaster relief or in previous warfare.
The Loquitur believes that this drastic decision, although still up in the air, is a quick fix to silence the American consumers. We feel that by tapping into the reserve the American people will have gone from one extreme (panicking about the unaffordable gas prices), to the other (becoming content with the comfortable price and forget about what’s happening in the world).
This complex issue is one that Loquitur sees as something that will require long-term investment to really fix what is broken. By immediately coming to the rescue of the American consumer, we may be neglecting our international community and their desperate desire for freedom.
Loquitur encourages all those taking the time to pick up this newspaper, to continue to read and become knowledgeable about the problems in the Middle East.
By becoming well informed about how problems in the world affect everyone, including you, you might find that the gas you pump into your car has a very important story line.
