Anti-Oil Crowd Wants to Have It Both Ways

The state government's pending revenue problems, which I pointed to recently, are now beginning to make real headlines. On Sunday the Casper Star Tribune made its contribution:

Dear rest of the country: Spare a thought for oil country. Your cheap gas comes at a cost. The national average gas price hit $2.75 a gallon last week, the lowest price for fuel since late 2010 and more than 50 cents a gallon cheaper than a year ago. Consumers' cheers are echoing from sea to shining sea. But here in oil country, a low oil price also casts a shadow over an industry that employs thousands in the states and injects millions of dollars into our economy and government coffers.

I don't like to be demagogical, but in this case I cannot resist the opportunity to point out the irony in the Tribune's concern over falling oil-sourced tax revenue. A quick search of the newspaper's website for the words "climate change" turns up over a hundred articles, most of which sound the alarm on alleged fossil-fuel driven global warming. However, the Tribune's editorial board are reliably statist at their core. When it comes to the other side of the oil dollar coin, namely the side that feeds the Wyoming government, then they suddenly voice great concern.

Globally, oil prices have dropped almost 40 percent in the last six months, and some forecasts point to $64 oil by the turn of the year. The reason is a combination of more oil production in the United States – en route to become the world's largest oil producer – and a decline demand worldwide. In addition to the perennial European recession, the Chinese economy appears to be experiencing its first real recession in two decades. It does not help that a fledgling economic recovery in Japan seems to have fallen to the ground again.

You would expect the Casper Star Tribune to cheer a decline in global oil consumption. But since that means less money for government, there is another tone in their voice. Back to their editorial:

So we're anxiously eyeing the price of oil, now in free fall past $70 a barrel. If the price drops much lower, you'll see drilling plans slow to a halt. Employees won't have jobs. New oil won't flow out of the ground for tax and sale. You'll hear no cheers in this part of the nation, or any other place where oil production is an economic boon.

This glimpse of a reality check is welcome, of course, especially if it means that the Tribune would come to the common-sensical insight that our state government needs to do some serious reforms on its spending side. The reason why falling oil prices is such a big problem for us here in Wyoming is, after all, that our state government at all times is spending at the very maximum of what taxpayers can pay for.

Unfortunately, the Tribune does not come to that conclusion. Its brief moment in the fresh air of sound reasoning is quickly followed by a return to the stable of climatological correctness:

We consider the oil price another warning sign for Wyoming's economy: Diversify and build the infrastructure for a robust economy, or continue to suffer the vagaries of carbon-fuel markets. Our state is no stranger to energy market booms and busts, of course, but that doesn't mean we must welcome economic suffering as inevitable. We've discussed the need for diversification before, but it's a topic that demands re-emphasis. It's a dicey time to be a carbon-dominated economy. Federal emission rules are slowing demand for current coal production and mining permits.

This is not the place to repeat the strong evidence that man-made global warming does not exist, though I would once again like to remind global warming alarmists of the East Anglia University climate hoax and Climategate. But more importantly, it is time for some common sense in this debate. Those who criticize oil for being an Earth-destroying substance might want to consider what alternatives we have, or will have in the reasonably near future.

Wyoming is a very good place for such thinking. We drive more than residents of any other state, which means – plainly – that we are more dependent on the internal combustion engine than other Americans. To that, the climatologically correct response would be that we should all drive plug-in hybrids.

Setting aside for the moment the question of what our power grid can and cannot handle, there are some pretty compelling problems in the way of oil-free transportation. For one, where is the electricity going to come from? If every American traded in a gas-or-diesel fueled vehicle for a plug-in hybrid, our nation's electricity consumption would rise by an estimated 20 percent. To meet that, we would need to almost double our nuclear-based production of electricity.

And those numbers are from the depth of the recession, three years ago. Today, with ten million more people driving to and from work and with $2 trillion worth of new economic activity, those numbers present an even tougher challenge for those who are anti-oil.

Instead of lamenting over falling oil prices, we Wyomingites should take the opportunity and appreciate having more wiggle room in our wallets. So should the Casper Star Tribune, because lower gasoline prices means more money for people to spend on other items that benefit the local economy. That means more jobs in general and more opportunities for young people to stay in their communities and build a future there.