May 20, 2004

Kerry and energy policy

By Dan Berard
John Kerry has finally started to unveil his views on energy. He just yesterday pronounced that we should stop filling up our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and instead feed crude oil into the market so gasoline prices would moderate. Since he was on a run, Senator Kerry also mentioned that President Bush doesn't seem to care about the issues at the gasoline pump and is doing nothing. In a separate comment, Senator Kerry spoke out against the drilling offshore Florida.   Taking crude oil from the SPR is certainly tempting. We tried this once before during the Clinton administration, and gasoline prices abated for a short time. It has been calculated that dumping oil into the market might lower gasoline prices a few cents per gallon. This would only be a temporary lowering of prices, and would not solve the underlying problems causing energy prices to increase. However, there is at least some public sentiment supporting anything which would help lower gasoline prices. Even...(Read Full Article)