Gas Prices on the Rise!

When the Russians invaded democratic Georgia recently, it was done for two reasons. First, Putin is leading a movement to restore the Soviet Union, and this was the first step in the re-acquisition of the former satellites. Second, Georgia has an important oil and gas line running to a port on the Black Sea.

Putin, make no mistake, is still in power. He was the former KGB chief under the USSR and knows how to play hardball. When the USSR collapsed, Putin remarked that this was the greatest tragedy in Russian history.

Ever since the days of Peter the Great, the Russians have sought a “Window on the West” so they could access economic resources and wealth. Georgia’s port, oil, and natural gas meet that “Window on the West” dream.

For the last several years, Russia has accumulated wealth. This wealth is based on oil and natural gas. This is basically the only real economic machine keeping Russia afloat. That’s right: oil and natural gas. Russia’s livelihood depends on the flow of oil.

Georgia, prior to Russia’s invasion, is and remains hostile to Russia. Furthermore, Georgia is an ally of the US and wants to be admitted to NATO, which Russia fears and hates.

When George W. Bush issued an executive order lifting a ban on off-shore drilling, when Americans practiced consumer sovereignty and stopped consuming as much gas, and when 70% of Americans started calling for off-shore drilling, guess what happened to gas prices? That’s right. Prices dropped.

Russia cannot afford for oil prices to drop because oil and natural gas are the lifeblood of Russia’s economy. If oil prices drop, Putin’s economy will collapse, the Russian people will suffer greatly, and the Russian people will recall the food lines, the shortage of consumer goods that brought the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Putin does not want to face an angry Russian populace.

Hence, an invasion of little Georgia was orchestrated to take place while the world would be quietly watching the Olympics. However, indicators of Putin’s designs on restoring the Russian Empire have been subtly appearing over the last several years. The US is being held hostage by Putin and his oil thirst. The US really does not want to go to war with Russia. Putin knows this, and Putin is keeping his Russian forces in Georgia in violation of the recently signed cease-fire because he is attempting to drive up the oil prices.

Driving up oil prices is his bargaining chip. If Bush would abandon Georgia, then Putin might consider pulling out of Georgia and lowering gas prices a little.
Putin is playing blackmail with the US using oil and Georgia as the bait. The liberals will claim this is the reason we need alternatives instead of oil. No, what we need is a comprehensive energy plan. We will always need some oil: paint, plastics, acrylics, make-up, nylon, polyester, manufacturing, oil for lubricating machinery, and the list goes on and on. Windmills will not lubricate machinery. Windmills and solar will not make paint nor lubricate the motors and engines in our cars, trucks, airplanes, buses, trains, etc.

Until we can develop a comprehensive energy policy, we need to drill now.

Russia’s blackmail is even more of a reason we need to drill now. Waiting is merely capitulating to the blackmailers. The one person who can end this blackmail is the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, but apparently this multi-millionaire socialite is more concerned with marketing her failed book than ending the energy crisis.