Flap, keep it up and you're going to be investigated by the Secret Service, no joke.
If it's any comfort to you, market conditions now exist where the refiners of oil now have an economic incentive to expand refinery capacity. Does anyone remember when gas was real cheap (below $0.75 a gallon in the '90's) and gas and oil companies were laying people off by the thousands? This is the flip side of that.
Even with added capacity, we have the challenge of rising consumption from China and India to deal with, as their economies are exploding.
For all you Bush bashers, consider this: high oil prices are not good for the economy. Our whole way of life is driven by oil. Higher oil prices act as a tax on us consumers and drives up the cost of doing business. The last four recessions have been preceded by oil going through $40 per bbl. We are experiencing a weird anomaly right now where the economy doesn't seem to be taking a huge hit - yet, from oil that is now at $70 per bbl, largely because economies in most developed countries are growing concurrently.
President Bush would never want the economy to be jeopardized - for obvious political reasons. We are all watching the price of oil, which could literally push us into a recession in three to six months if conditions persist. That is one reason why the President has released strategic reserves, to offset supply disruption from the recent hurricane. The Gulf Coast provides 40% of our gas and oil.
In the meantime, cut your consumption where you can. Oil is a self-correcting commodity. If it goes to a certain level, people just won't buy it. Carpool, use mass transit, switch to more fuel efficient vehicles, or just walk.
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