Well, here we go again with the spring break-into-summer gas gouging. I anticipated paying excessive prices this June/July in Canada and Alaska, but in Dallas, in March? This sucks.
Many Americans just nod when our leadership points the finger at Qaddafi, but the reality is we have had no domestic energy policy in the United States for decades. We sit atop the largest oil supply on the planet and we have the technological means to extract it, but we are held hostage by eco-Nazi extremists and politicians on both sides of the aisle who lack the balls to face them. Meanwhile, China is completing plans to begin drilling for oil off of Cuba's coast.
Mark my words: We will be buying our own oil from China in a few years. The Chinese will drill it from our back yard, store it tankers, and transport it directly to the United States putting our coastal waters at risk instead of their own. It's a given that they will employ the same ecological oversight and standards they use in their own country - none. We as a country will be powerless to enforce any ecological standards on them because it's unwise to piss off the lien holder on the trillions of debt we owe.
The age-old argument that drilling now will not make the extracted oil available for years because of shale oil processes and lack of refineries is just that - age old. We heard that excuse from politicians in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and even the last decade. Imagine the progress we would have made had we ignored those claims forty, thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago. We would be independent of of oil from countries hell bent on our destruction, our economy would be stronger, and the middle east would go back to being little more than fodder for glass.
I'm taking my trip regardless of gas prices and am pretty much adjusting my budget on a daily basis. My goal is to have and spend cash only while I'm gone and take a credit card for emergencies only. Obviously, I have finite financial resources, but I will find a way. Qaddafi, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, or Boehner won't get in my way.