As Middle East dictatorships are challenged and topple, the long-term result may be greater freedoms for millions of citizens in many countries. In the U.S., the effects are already being felt at the pump.
America’s dependence on OPEC oil has been a fact of life for decades. Newspapers across the country are already singling out the inescapable cause-and-effect of this dangerous addiction to imported oil, including Nebraska’s McCook Daily Gazette:
“We already saw record high gasoline prices for February, and thanks to the unrest in Libya, we’ll probably watch the numbers climb as warmer weather arrives – light, sweet crude oil for April delivery climbed almost 9 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange, to $97.64.”
The small-town newspaper has a global perspective, and its editors note that America’s lack of an energy plan could have potentially crippling effects on our economy:
Nebraska’s survived the “Great Recession” relatively well, but like the rest of the nation – make that the world – we’ll have a difficult time climbing out of the economic hole with the weight of higher priced gasoline slowing us down.
It seems free market forces – cheap gasoline – conspired with inertia and perhaps more sinister powers to keep us from properly preparing for the next oil crisis.
Read more HERE.