The Oil (or, if you like, Earl!) Report

My Congresscritter Henry Waxman has put out a five-year review of the Bush energy policy, and these results shouldn't surprise anybody who's been living here the past five years, but it's amazing to see them in such stark relief:

Energy prices have risen rapidly. Over the last five years, crude oil prices have increased by 143%; gasoline prices have increased by 71%; natural gas prices have increased by 46%; and prices for other fuels have increased at a rate significantly higher than the inflation rate.

American families are spending record amounts for energy. Five years ago, the average American family spent $3,300 on gasoline, home heating, and electricity. This year, the average American family will spend over $5,100 on gasoline, home heating, and electricity. This is an increase of nearly $2,000 per family. The indirect costs of higher energy prices in the form of higher prices for consumer goods and services are likely to cost families another $1,400 per year.

The nation’s dependence on foreign oil has increased. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Texas Governor George Bush criticized the Clinton Administration for allowing U.S. imports on foreign oil to reach 56% of U.S. oil consumption. Five years after President Bush announced his energy plan, U.S. imports of foreign oil have risen to 65% of U.S. consumption.

The entire review is here.

What do you expect from a President who said "There's no such thing as being too closely aligned with the oil industry in West Texas."

On the heels of this comes an ad campaign by the "Competitive Enterprise Institute" (a front for Exxon and other big oil companies), presumably timed to counter the opening of Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth," that actually tries to argue in favor of carbon dioxide emissions because "we breathe it out." This is the kind of insanity that passes for "debate" in America.

There is some good news to report. The Republican-controlled House bowed to public anger over energy prices and passed two bills yesterday, one repealing subsidies for oil companies that drill in federal waters, and the other upholding a ban on drilling in coastal areas in Florida and California that are within 3 miles of the shoreline. Democrats almost unanimously supported both bills. The fact that the Congress realized that subsidizing the oil industry during a time of record profits was unwise represents an actual shift in the debate in Washington, and offers hope that Congress will understand reality and act in the interests of their constituents. At least in an election year.