These Gas Prices...

     I do not know about the rest of the class, but as a commuter and a pizza delivery driver, I can say that I am overwhelmingly fed up with the rise of gas prices. Whether or not they are trying to push new energy efficient vehicles, there is no excuse for the recent $4.03 per gallon that I just paid. Right now oil is at about $99 dollars per barrel and in July of 2008 when oil hit an all time high of $145 dollars per barrel with a gas price of $4.10 per gallon. Why is it that we are paying relatively close to the same amount now when the crude oil prices are almost $50 per barrel cheaper. Its more than aggravating. Rather than tap into the 300 years of natural resources we have sitting under the United State or tap into the oil reserves we have in various states, we continue to import our oil. Our president does not have the back bone to stand up to OPEC or the oil refineries. Not for nothing but if one of the largest importers of oil threatens to stop buying, OPEC will have to listen. But that is besides the point. Mitt Romney appears to have the answer to these problems.
     "As president, I will unleash American innovation and productivity to make full use of our natural resources", Romney states in one of his speeches on the energy issue. He suggests that if he becomes president he will make sure we invest in the research on multiple energy sources and the expansion and innovation of others. They include: Liquified coal, bio diesel, ethanol, safer nuclear energy and the reuse of it. One thing that struck me in the face was the fact that he was more than realistic about the time frame in which this could happen. Romney explains, in Coralville,Iowa,  that it will take ten maybe twenty years to reach full energy independence from foreign nations, maybe even more. Its the initiative that he is willing to take in order to save us from those monstrous gas prices, that get excited to vote this upcoming fall. Well, one of many.
    One major thing that needs to happen in order to reduce the current gas prices and get us moving into new technologies is to permit off-shore drilling and approval of the keystone pipeline from Canada. In an article in The Columbus Dispatch, Romney states: I will increase production... I will permit access to our resources in the Gulf of Mexico, the Outer Continental Shelf, western lands and the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. I also will partner closely with our neighbors. Canada and Mexico have extraordinary resources of their own that can provide secure, reliable supplies for our economy. This starts with my approval of the Keystone XL pipeline on Day One". It will reduce gas prices to an extreme low (compared to four dollars at least). One of the main reasons the United States has not drilled in our own territories is the fact that most of the oil refineries are severely outdated and are costly to produce gasoline. If all we did was update, it could save us billions in the long run.
     Romney states so elegantly at the end of the Dispatch article: "This pro-jobs, pro-market, pro-American energy policy will bring energy prices down today, secure an affordable supply of energy for tomorrow, send fewer dollars overseas and create millions of jobs. America can be the world’s next energy superpower, if we give ourselves the chance". We are THE superpower why not remain on top and do it efficiently.