DOWNLOADS: (129)

PLAYS: (609)

Embed

My first post C&L ever linked to was a May 2007 Op/Ed on how oil companies appeared to be shutting down refineries "for maintenance" to deliberately (IMHO) drive up gas prices the same way Enron drove up electricity prices in California in 2000, the year before they collapsed in scandal. You might recall that back in the Spring of 2000, California was plagued by rolling blackouts because of electricity plants closed "due to maintenance". Most people still remember those secret audio recordings (NSFW) on the news of two young Enron Energy Traders joking about having to repay the money they stole from "Grandma Millie" in California, or CEO Jeff Skilling comparing California to the Titanic.

Fast forward 12 years (though I HIGHLY doubt the practice ever ceased) to last May & October. Reports were all over the news of gas prices spiking well over $4/gal in California, despite the fact gas & oil supplies were UP and gas prices were DOWN in the rest of the country. The reason for the 50cent/gallon spike in California? Several large oil refineries supposedly had to be "shutdown for maintenance" (according to McClatchy, May's West Coast spike was partly blamed on a Feb. 18 fire at BP's Cherry Point refinery in Washington. October's California spike was explained as partly a market reaction to an Aug. 6 fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery... both spikes taking place MONTHS after those fires and independent of the "closures" that supposedly interrupted supply.)

A McClatchy News investigation has found evidence that during the refinery closures in May that were behind the spike in gas prices, the plants were actually up & running at least part of that time... perhaps even the entire time... and producing gasoline. So why the spike in prices?

In response to this information, Democratic Senators in Congress (THIS is why Dem majorities are so important) led by Sen. Maria Cantwell have called for a formal investigation into whether oil companies have been deliberately closing... or even entirely falsely claiming the closure of... oil refineries for the sole purpose of market manipulation and driving gas prices up.

Just as we saw with Enron in 2000, and just as I reported back in 2007, the practice of artificially limiting the supply of energy just to push up prices by greedy energy executives is nothing new, but unlike in 2000 and 2007, Democrats now control both the White House and part of Congress, making a serious investigation with tangible consequences that much more likely. A Credit Suisse report last February claims every one-penny increase in the price of gasoline sucks one-Billion dollars annually out of the economy (I'd argue the number is FAR higher, because higher fuel costs means higher transportation costs for stores, increasing prices, doubling the impact. While slower sales mean layoffs that contract the economy still further.)

Tell me again GOP how "deregulation" helps the economy? Please. I really want to hear your answer on this one.

CBS:

Gas prices have retreated and that's a good thing...sort of. The average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.38, according to AAA, down from a high of $3.93 in April.

That's odd. I seem to remember the "record" gas prices being the fault of the President.

The Republican presidential candidate [Mitt Romney], speaking in an interview with Fox News, said he "absolutely" believes Mr. Obama is responsible for high gas prices, contending that "he has not pursued policies that convince the world that America is going to become energy secure, energy independent."

And,

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lays the blame for rising gas prices on President Barack Obama, saying "he certainly has participated."

"This administration has been shutting down wells," McConnell said on "Fox News Sunday."

And,

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) blamed President Obama and “radical environmental groups” for high gas prices on Tuesday and said it was “about damn time” the United States had a national energy policy.

Love that one. Exxon Mobil and BP are absolutely powerless in the face of the all-mighty, tyrannical Greenpeace!

It would be nice if a few of the reporters that transcribed these baseless accusations just three months ago followed-up with Willard, McConnell and Boehner today and asked them if they want to take back all that stuff.

DOWNLOADS: (171)

PLAYS: (420)

Embed

The Obama administration is considering the release of oil from the U.S. strategic reserves, and Little Paul Ryan was of course dismissive of the idea on This Week with George Stephanopoulos today:

Rep. Paul Ryan said this morning on “This Week” that the idea of releasing oil from strategic reserves to drive down domestic gas prices was "political pixie dust in an election year.”

“I call it the political pixie dust in an election year. It really doesn’t do a lot,” said Ryan. “Instead of begging the Saudis to sell us more of their oil, what our budget does is says let’s go and explore more of our own oil.”

And yet, it worked the last time! Rep. Ryan's response to this imaginary problem? "Drill, drill, drill!"

Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, suggested that access should be granted to “oil that is locked on public lands by President Obama.”

“Let’s open up the Keystone pipeline to bring Canadian oil into our country to dramatically reduce our dependency on foreign oil. It creates jobs here in America. It lowers gas prices, increases supply, ” said Ryan. “And just by passing this legislation, you’ll improve the prices in the futures market, because you’ll see that all this new American-made energy is coming online. Unfortunately, the president is standing in the way of all of those kinds of reforms, and so he’s resorting to what I call these sort of policy gimmicks that in the past really haven’t done a whole lot to change the outcome.”

And yet, the Keystone pipeline neither creates many jobs, nor is its oil likely to lower prices. It's for export to other countries. By the way, here's that little stroll down memory lane from June 2011:

News of the oil release sent gasoline tumbling 14 cents a gallon in the futures markets. That’s the equivalent of about $56 million a day in savings at the gas pump — or about $20 billion a year, according to Peter Beutel, and oil analyst a Cameron Hanover. In New York trading crude oil was down $4.01 to $91.40 a barrel, more than 20 percent below peak levels of $114 hit in early May.

But Paul Ryan says it didn't really help, so I suppose I have to believe his lyin' self.

Three years ago, Krugman talked about energy policy under the Bush administration, John McCain's proposals and how deregulating the oil companies wouldn't make gas any cheaper.

I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher last night, and one of the Republican talking zombies was going on about how the price of gas was so high "because President Obama won't get out of the way and let companies drill." Yadda, yadda, yadda! If I hadn't just read this Krugman column, or known that Republicans lie every single time they open their mouths, I might have believed him:

To be a modern Republican in good standing, you have to believe — or pretend to believe — in two miracle cures for whatever ails the economy: more tax cuts for the rich and more drilling for oil. And with prices at the pump on the rise, so is the chant of “Drill, baby, drill.” More and more, Republicans are telling us that gasoline would be cheap and jobs plentiful if only we would stop protecting the environment and let energy companies do whatever they want.

...[T]he truth is that we’re already having a hydrocarbon boom, with U.S. oil and gas production rising and U.S. fuel imports dropping. If there were any truth to drill-here-drill-now, this boom should have yielded substantially lower gasoline prices and lots of new jobs. Predictably, however, it has done neither.

Why the hydrocarbon boom? It’s all about the fracking. The combination of horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing of shale and other low-permeability rocks has opened up large reserves of oil and natural gas to production. As a result, U.S. oil production has risen significantly over the past three years, reversing a decline over decades, while natural gas production has exploded.

DOWNLOADS: (199)

PLAYS: (2047)

Embed

Bill O'Reilly has been studying Orwell, I see. Up is down, right is wrong, Breitbart is God, Media Matters is Satan. Lawrence O'Donnell's claims that the media never uses the word "lie" notwithstanding, Billo seems to have no problem using it, at least when it applies to Media Matters. Unfortunately he should try looking in the mirror.

The conflict centers around this Media Matters post about gas prices from March 5th, which contrasts a Billo clip from the summer of 2008 with one from this year:

Following GOP strategy, Fox News is again blaming the Obama administration for rising gasoline prices -- a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by energy analysts. But back in the summer of 2008, when the average U.S. gasoline price hit a record high of $4.11, Fox said that "no President has the power to increase or to lower gas prices."

I shouldn't have to actually say this, but I will since it's the center of the Billo lie: Republican George W. Bush was President in the summer of 2008. Keep that thought while I lay out his very weird, Orwellian up-is-down argument, where he invokes the ghost of Breitbart as proof of evil intent. More from Media Matters:

In 2008, Fox's coverage occasionally even mirrored the facts: expanding domestic oil drilling will not significantly lower prices, and the only way to reduce our vulnerability to gas price spikes is to use less oil. Perhaps there was more room for reality-based coverage at Fox when there wasn't an incumbent president to defeat?

Here is O'Reilly's insane argument:

O'REILLY: Before he died, Andrew Breitbart spoke to The Hollywood Reporter. That was the last interview he ever did. Mr. Breitbart was upset because he believed the left-wing media was trying to destroy him. He pointed to Media Matters as the primary offender.

Breitbart went on to accuse the far-left website of receiving orders from the DNC and passing those orders on to MSNBC. Breitbart called it a rigged operation and was furious that a news agency as powerful as NBC would engage in dishonest practices.

O'Reilly starts babbling about George Soros and corruption of the editorial process right after that.

So, Billo, That's some classic right-wing projection there. Accuse your enemy of what you are doing. I've written this so often it's probably etched on this site in stone, but let me adjust the tense: Breitbart lied. He lied, and he spoke lies easily because lies were his native tongue. So please excuse me if I scoff at Breitbart's paranoia for a moment.

There. Much better. If only his lying sites could have been destroyed with the truth, but alas. As long as there is an appetite for lies, those sites will soldier on, with or without Andrew Breitbart, and definitely in partnership with Fox News.

Billo now steps up with his claim that he, the Great and Powerful O'Reilly, has been Media Matters' victim, too!

O'REILLY: As you know, I've been very critical of the oil companies jacking up gas prices when there is plenty of supply available in the USA. I've criticized President Obama for doing nothing about it when he could call the oil chieftains and get behind legislation to limit oil speculation.

Continue reading »

The National Review's Jim Geraghty found an article in the Washington Post titled, "Voters blame president for gas prices, experts say not so fast" -- and spotted a clear case of liberal bias.

Well of course it's Obama's fault, Geraghty wants us to believe -- just look at these facts. Then, with a little bait and switch (let's just call 2001 and 2008 averages, and mix those in with the single years--no one will notice!) -- and presto: it's all Obama's fault.

Of course, gas prices nearly tripled under Bush/Cheney -- but Jim undoubtedly blames the Sierra Club and Nancy Pelosi for that.

DOWNLOADS: (282)

PLAYS: (432)

Embed

In his victory speech Tuesday night, in addition to lying about what Obama said about gas prices, Newt peddled the Palinesque fantasy that "drill, baby drill" is the answer to all our energy problems and also added (starts around 2:15):

GINGRICH: The price of gasoline when I was Speaker [ed. and Bill Clinton was President] was $1.13. The price of gasoline when Barack Obama became president was $1.89. All of this gigantic increase came from his policies.

Really? Well, from 2001-2009, when we had President Arbusto and Vice President Halliburton in the White House, the price of gas nearly tripled — reaching a high of $4.28 per gallon in May 2008 before crashing with the global economy.

And with the Obama recovery, the price has rebounded, but still isn't as high as it was under the Republican oilmen.

So which of Bush/Cheney's "policies" caused the price of gas to go up so much under their watch? And since Republicans controlled all levers of government for four years, why didn't they enact this brilliant "drill everywhere" plan to lower it?

I blame Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and PETA.

Also, the Chevy Volt.

The Huffington Post's Dan Froomkin has a pointed piece about the Obama administration's inaction on potential speculation in the energy market. Talk is cheap - and it's costing us quite a bit at the gas pump. I get the distinct impression that the president thinks enforcing any regulations at all, for anybody, will stall the recovery and cost him his reelection:

The topic of gas prices came up at Obama's press conference on Tuesday after a Fox News reporter asked if the president was on purpose driving up gas prices to wean Americans off fossil fuels. "Just from a political perspective, do you think the president of the United States going into reelection wants gas prices to go up higher?" he asked, with a laugh. "Is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?"

Obama said there is "no silver bullet" to lowering high gas prices. Rather, he said, he endorsed an "all of the above strategy," that includes increased domestic production, energy conservation and the development of renewable energy.

His plans also involve "making sure that my attorney general is paying attention to potential speculation in the oil markets," Obama said. To that end, he said, "I've asked him to reconstitute a task force that’s examining that."

But it wasn't an investigative task force. Its job was to "monitor oil and gas markets" for potential violations of criminal or civil law. Even that might have helped -- but, as one expert from Public Citizen points out, the task force wasn't doing anything.

At the time Holder promised, "if illegal conduct is responsible for increasing gas prices, state and federal authorities should take swift action.” Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program for consumer group Public Citizen, said the Obama administration "isn't reconstituting this task force because this task force wasn't even meeting in the first place."

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (309)

PLAYS: (3486)

Embed

This is not a post about rising gas prices, despite the title of the video. No, this post is about something else entirely. Rising gas prices just happens to be the convenient topic.

I've just finished reading "The Fox Effect" by David Brock and Ari Rabin-Havt. For those of us who have lived every painful minute of the past three years, reading this book is no less painful, nor will it offer many revelations. What it does offer, however, is a strong, well-argued case for the anti-American techniques they use to indoctrinate and hypnotize their audience into believing the lies they spew. Beginning with the history of Fox News and Roger Ailes' vision for "conservative television," the book takes the reader through how Fox News is structured, what their goals are, and how they've changed since Barack Obama was elected President.

For those people smart enough to keep Fox News out of their living room, it is an instructive and safe walk through their process. For those of us who have actually watched it over the past three years, it feels like having a root canal six times over.

Still, the book really should be shared with as many people as possible, if for no other reason than to save them from the consequence of too much Fox viewing; namely, being a misinformed citizen, which harms our democracy. On page 168, the authors describe "The Fox Effect," as it relates to fake controversies like Shirley Sherrod and ACORN. But it's far more than that. They also use the same techniques and distorted facts to create fear and discontent for fun and profit. The gas price rise is a shining example.

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (237)

PLAYS: (1440)

Embed

Monday night, Karl Rove and Sean Hannity had a lot of fun "worrying" over how rising gas prices might affect President Obama's re-election. Rove is certain that no President can be re-elected if gas prices are rising.

I thought that was interesting, so I went and checked out some facts about historical oil prices, especially since Rove seems to have forgotten that the all-time high for gas prices was in July, 2008, when they hit $4.21 per gallon. Remember John McCain calling for a suspension of the national gas tax? Shortly after hitting that all-time high, prices plummeted. In fact, there has been a trend of extreme volatility in gasoline (and oil) prices for the past ten years, as you can see from this chart:

What's notable about Hannity and Rove's concern trolling here is what they don't mention: Oil speculation. Instead they natter on about how President Obama wants gas prices to be at $5.00 per gallon to serve his "radical agenda." But speculators are playing a very large role in the steep rise in the price of oil, once again, just like they did in 2008.

Continue reading »