Drill, Baby, Drill!

With all the news about American becoming energy independent I keep hearing people say that it won’t matter or change anything for us here in the US because it is a global market. People who say that are incorrect at best and wrongheaded at worst. The first of the arguments is that it will not change the price at the pump because it is a global market. This may actually be completely true but it has nothing to do with whether it makes a difference or not. When you pay $4/gallon for gas the service station gets a cut, Exxon gets a cut and the federal government gets a cut but where does the remaining 40% of that go? It goes to the people who drilled, pumped and owned the oil at its source. It creates jobs there and supports the economy or governments there. I would much rather create a million jobs in North Dakota and Canada than in Saudi Arabia wouldn’t you? Those wage earners in Canada, The US’s very best ally, and those citizens in the Dakotas and other states spend their money here. In other words a lot more of it stays home if the fuel came from here in the first place. The other side of this is one that is more important than economics. It is national security. Once the US can procure, pump and refine its own fuel the Middle East becomes a lot less important to us. In short, I would rather pay $4/gallon for US oil than for imported oil that supports people who want to see the US destroyed.