2007-11-05 17:27:18 · 15 answers · asked by ? 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Elections
That's not something you can legislate. It's all economics, supply and demand.
OPEC's withholding production, not supplying as much as it can...and we're demanding it more and more every day. Supply goes down, demand goes up, prices skyrocket. Doesn't help that the dollar's getting more inflated day by day.
Only way a president can do anything about it is reverse the moratorium on building new refineries. There hasn't been a new US refinery to come online in over 30 years. Also, tap our resources in Alaska and increase oil shale mining efforts in the Rockies. Then we can offset the supply shortage, create American jobs and combat inflation in one fell swoop.
2007-11-05 17:32:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The price of oil is governed by worldwide supply and demand. If there was tons and tons of oil being pumped out, the price would go down. Similarly, if nobody needed oil, there would be plenty to go around and the price would go down.
Obviously it's hard to make an impact on the supply side of things: there's only so much oil in the world and you can't change that. A president could commit to building more refineries and that would help somewhat, but not a lot.
The biggest impact can be made on the supply-side. If a president commits to investing in alternative energy sources, like wind and solar power, then Americans will 'demand' less oil and the price will go down. If the president offers major tax breaks on hybrid cars and cleaner-burning technologies, that will also help lower the price of oil. Those are the incentives to use less oil, but you could also take more of a hard-lined approach and increase the tax on gas so much that it becomes so expensive that people are forced to look for alternatives. That's not a pretty picture, nor is it very likely, but it would help reduce the price of oil.
Still, the US is only one country, and China and India along with other countries are growing and consuming more and more oil. The only long-term solution is to find a different source of energy that is as reliable, plentiful, and cost-efficient as oil is right now, preferably without the environmental damage caused by CO2 emissions.
Still, having said all that, many experts predict that oil will return below $70 in 2008, so it may not get to $100/b regardless of who is elected.
2007-11-05 17:40:26 · answer #2 · answered by Joel 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Take it off the futures market and it will go down... Back in the mid 90's there were ads everywhere to get into the market, because it was known back then that the price of oil was going to skyrocket and it did.
You will see that in retrospect, it's not as bad as you may think it is. I say that because in the 50's when the median household income was 4000 dollars it still cost 2000 for a car. Now the median income is higher, the cost of things are running along the same lines. Now there are other things that is driving prices off the charts.
If we begin to buy into the E85 push, which is gas made from corn, you will see the price of milk push the 10 dollar a gallon mark before too long. You have already begun to see the increase here in the last year.
On the same note, you could vote for Hillary and won't have to worry about the price of gas because we won't have a job to go to, so it won't be so bad.... No job, no need to go anywhere!
2007-11-05 21:30:19 · answer #3 · answered by damond h 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The best thing a president could do about the price of oil is push legislation to encourage alternatives to petroleum products.
The price of oil is based on speculation of supply and demand.
If overtime the United States could lower its demand by switching to alternative sources this would cause a surplus of supply and a drop in price to meet demand.
2007-11-06 02:09:49 · answer #4 · answered by Gamla Joe 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I do not believe that they should. It is not the job of the president to act like some sort of dictator and determine the price of a product.
What should be done is eliminate the government programs that get in the way of dropping the cost of gasoline and crude.
2007-11-06 01:32:09 · answer #5 · answered by lundstroms2004 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. Oil is controlled by supply and demand, and the stock market driving the prices up.
2007-11-05 17:33:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Of course they can, but none would actually do anything about it. Large oil (and other type of conglomerats) 'donate' large political contributions to get into office. Presidents don't want to 'bite the hand that feeds them' and look the other way. Just my personal opinion - - I have zero facts on it.
2007-11-05 17:32:42 · answer #7 · answered by Carole Q 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
No. Commodity prices are not controlled by the government. They are strongly influenced by speculators, hedge funds, and the like applying basic economics to an observed inelastic demand.
2007-11-05 17:33:15 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes, I do. Ron Paul. What will he do? He will get the US out of other people's business and remove us from the middle east, which will ease tensions in the area.
EDIT: If it is controlled by supply and demand here in the US, then it should go WAY down if we deport the illegal aliens!
2007-11-05 17:32:46 · answer #9 · answered by Fedup Veteran 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Didn't we invade Iraq for oil? We should be awash in cheap oil now.
2007-11-05 17:39:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋