Home energy key to lower gas prices
The summer driving season has come with little relief at the pump. Gas prices are up 14 cents since the beginning of July, pushing national averages to $3.70 per gallon. Mississippians are paying nearly a full dollar more per gallon now than we did this time last year.
The misguided energy policies of the Obama Administration have not softened the punch. The White House resorted earlier this summer to tapping into our country’s emergency supply of crude oil after unrest in the Middle East sent fuel costs soaring. Not surprisingly, the effect was short-lived. Prices dipped for a mere five days before climbing northward again. Over a month has passed, and they are still rising.
It is no wonder that the release of 30 million barrels from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) failed to make a dent in the oil market. The SPR was established “to address true emergencies, not politically inconvenient high prices,” says Karen Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Institute.
Roger Wicker
8/11/11
