The problem is with the treehuggers that are scared of killing a few moose in alaska canada. Who cares? I wish they would kill a few deer in my neighborhood while there at it. If we had all the oil from up there we could drive as fast as we want. I hope all you liberals learn to saddle and ride the dam moose to work because its your fault we don ‘t have no oil.

It is also the democrats that keep blocking drilling bills.

Bet you would have heard about it if it were signed by a Republican President.

http://newsbusters.org/node/6858

Notice the date, over two years ago.

Sally,
You hit the nail exactly on the head. No presidential candidate has talked about speculation as one major cause of $140 a barrel oil. Both parties are pushing their own pet ideological solutions. I am at a loss to understand what the heck ideology has to do with fixing this problem and providing relief to hapless consumers. The Democrats really would like to use the high prices as a excuse to explore “eco-friendly” alternatives because at these prices there is an “incentive to explore these solutions”. The Republicans want to use this as an excuse to give more control to the oil companies for exploration. In their election year rhetoric of trying to undermine the other party’s solution, both parties are failing America ! The story of Solomon comes to mind.

Demand for oil is high, China has comsumed as much energy in the last 2 years as it had in the previouos eight. Supply is not high, there are frequent disruptions in Nigeria, and much of the Middle East is perpetually unstable. While the Saudis had committed to pump more oil, their oil is heavy sour crude. What is needed is more light sweet crude that is esaily refinable into gasoline. It’s that simple. No evil, dark, supersecret, ultrapowerful boogeymen hiding in the closet. You’ll note grain and copper prices are high for the same reason, worldwide demand.

And you’ve got to stop getting your business news from NPR. You might as well listen to the Capitalist Update on Karl Marx Radio.

Sally Sandy:

“Why has neither candidate jumped in with strategic plans to close this legislative gap that allows speculators to get rich on the back of every American and finally what induced Congress to pass this legislation in the first place and to leave this loophole wide open in the face of $140 a barrel prices?”

Speculators contribute to the problem but the percentage is far less than the 40 to 80 percent you mention. Liberals, including both Barack Obama and Obama light, AKA John McCain have had “Big Oil” exclusively in their sights for the past 8 years. Obama wants the obscene booty from an excess profits tax to create more entitlements for the unwashed masses and McCain needs desperately to be loved by the few whacked out loopies not personally attached through the nose to George Soros.

If anybody thought the effect of the Enron loophole would have had on the price of oil, Congress wouldn’t have passed it and I guarantee, Clinton reacted only to polls and not reason. The simple answer is they all didn’t know what they were doing but that’s nothing new, Google any Will Rogers quote from 80 years ago.

Ok- “…all I know is what I read in the newspapers.”

How about-”our constitution is designed to protect aliens, drunks, and U.S Senators.”

Tim Jones is the one who hit the nail on the head. Developing nations, (China and India specifically) have become the major competitors for raw materials the U.S. up until very recently had exclusive dominion over. That coupled with the loss of value of the U.S. dollar makes other consumers attractive. And as pointed out, not just for oil but every type of resource used to build a nation: lumber, steel, machinery and machinery parts, technology, the whole ball of wax. Speculation adds about 30 to 40 dollars to the price of a barrel of oil, not the 30 ro 40 percent as reported above. You don’t see the oil producers hurting for cash do you?

Lenny, ANWR I’m afraid is not going to put much of a dent in anything by the time production would be at peak, even if it did start 10 years ago. Demand is simply to high.