" we can't drill our way to chaeaper oil" Well not drilling isn't exactly working very well , is it?'

What will work? If Washington thinks it is a good or bad idea most likely we should go in the other direction. I'm all for alternatives but until there is one drill away. Build refineries, etc. When Joe Six Pack starts to hurt enough our fearless leaders won't be able to stop the anarchy they've created. First order of business should be start to produce as much as we possibly can. Quit taking care of everyone else in the world and worry about our own backyard!

If you need my bedroom to drill for oil, I'm willing to give it up. Just do something.

Energy prices follow the laws of supply and demand. If you increase the supply prices will fall.
China and India are emerging from the 3rd world into the 1st world. Their demand is driving prices up.
If we stopped buying from China and India they couldn't use our money to bid against us.
Would somebody please start a retailer with zero products made in China or India?

The industry has added to its stockpile of millions of acres of unexploited leases during the Bush years. How would leasing more make any difference if they aren't using the acres they already have?

You know what really scares me? People who don't understand basic economics. If you want cheaper oil, you increase the supply. If you want to increase the supply, it must be imported or produced domestically. If the environmentalists wont let us drill for oil, we'll have to get it from the Saudis and the Venezuelans and the Russians. Does this sound like a good plan or what? If the left wants us to use wind and solar power, I have one thing to say: GET MOVING ALREADY! They've been talking about it all my life and gas is up to $3.90 a gallon. What are they waiting for?

'Don't oversimplify the problem' What a bunch of idiots. Yeah lets just sue the OPEC countries that hate our guts for lower gas prices. Or same shame on oil execs for record profits. RIIIIIIGHT.
How simple do you need to get. Supply and demand. If supply is in the hands of countries that we buy from, and they gouge America. How do you counter that???? DRILL!!! We need to CONTROL our own supply and demand!

Let China and India buy from the terrorists. Lets start drilling!

What surprises me is that I thought the BLM was already letting everyone drill wherever they like.

Democrats and Obstruction Enviros are to blame for high energy. BS like "Wildnerss Study Areas" are used to block exploration. Clowns like Pam Miller and SUWA should be exposed for what they are: obstructionists looking for some sort of meaning in life -- delusional to believe they are saving the environment. The reality is that they do this because they are lawyers and idiots support them with donations. Go to any SUWA focus group and you will find 5 or 6 TOTALLY MISINFORMED VOLUNTEERS who get enlisted to their scheme. Its outrageous. Its foolish. Its why we are paralyzed for energy in America.

We are held hostage by OPEC. OPEC controls the supply. When we pull our heads out and quit buying oil from our enemies the speculators won't have any reason to drive the price of oil to record highs each new day. I guarantee that if they announced tomorrow that they were opening up Alaska and coastal areas for drilling the price of oil would drop double digits. Let's find reasons for the speculators to lower the price instead of raise it! We want American oil and we want it now!

but the reason we're "paralyzed for energy in America" is that petroleum is a non-renewable, fast-dwindling resource, and the law of supply and demand, mixed in with good old investor greed is alive and kicking. If there was an unlimited supply, you'd still be paying two bits/gallon like you did in the '60s when everyone thought it would last forever. Yeah - SUWA doesn't see reality like th rest of us, but don't you think for a minute that drilling like crazy on BLM lands is ever going to make a bit of difference in the price you pay for your oil-fueled lifestyle. It's non-renewable, the forces of supply and demand are at work, and 50 years from now your grandkids are going to pray they has gas - at any price - to put in the cars that are rusting in their driveways, or electricity to run their dusty furnaces and A/C units.

drilling on Federal Land, guess who is going to get the big contract to do the deed? Of course the big oil companies again and do you think they care about consumers savings? I don't think so. All they care about is profit...

Its about time we stop letting the environmentalists dictate what we can or can't do on our public lands. Its way past time to drill wherever there is oil. The public supports drilling! Pass emergency measures to start the drilling now! We do have an emergency!

That oil isn't going anywhere. We should be saving it for the future when it will be even more precious. In the future we also might be better able to find and develop the resources with less damage to the environment and a higher rate or recovery than can be done now. These oil prices are painful but they open the door to renewable energy, elimination of waste, and conservation of energy that will permanently free us from foreign oil.

When you can't buy the gas you need no matter how much you are willing to pay, that will be a true emergency. This is just two decades of pent-up inflation coming home to roost.

The US orgy of driving 13 mpg SUVs and Pickups has a lot more to do with this than all the actions of all the environmentalists put together.

We are now seeing the REAL COST of energy. Get used to it.

it was that the big oil companies were just waiting for an excuse to dramatically raise prices. Now that they've been raised, I don't think anything but new competition will drive the prices down. Even if our current suppliers drop prices, I don't believe gas prices will go down much.

Where are we going to come up with a large enough company to compete with the well-established giants?

I can't think of any -- so here's some food for thought. What if we the people -- through the federal government -- fund a new department of the federal government to create and oversee a new oil company that can compete against -- but not regulate -- the existing greedy oil companies?

Remember that the pain we're paying isn't limited to when we fill up our cars. Because fuel costs dramatically more, our airline fares are going up, our food prices are going up -- everything is going up. The rising charges delivered to us by the oil companies are generating an inflation like I don't think anything else has in our history. Our dollar is losing value against foreign currencies largely due to this oil induced inflation.

We have GOT to find a way to create new competition -- possibly even government subsidized -- if we expect to get our economy back on track.

"We have GOT to find a way to create new competition -- possibly even government subsidized -- if we expect to get our economy back on track"

As has been pointed out numerous times before, oil company profit margins are about 10%. That's the most that you could possibly reduce the price of gasoline if you were to establish a non-profit entity to do the work for them. And you are unlikely to accomplish that because your hundreds of thousands of employees (ExxonMobil alone has 80,000) will all be on Federal pay schedules, earning Federal benefits.

By the way, this would all come at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars (oil is a capital-intensive industry). And should I even bother to point out that the government has a dismal track record of running companies? (AMTRAK anyone?)

The price spike is not caused by oil companies or a lack of competition. It's caused by the fact that demand outpaces supply.

But I'm sure these facts won't get in the way of your socialism.

to make Hybrid vehicles affordable. I will stand in line to buy one and see how these big oil companies react...

Congress needs to get off its fanny and let us drill off-shore and anywhere there is oil, stop listing to the tree huggers

Living overseas I have to say that it is about time that the US woke up to the fact that they can no longer live in some fantasy world of cheap oil! Oh, so you now have expensive oil for your big cars.............. poor babies!!!! Maybe a few less trips in the car to the burger stand will solve all of your problems!!!!!

Anyone who believes that we are going to go off of oil for something hybrid or any other tech is only dreaming. There is nothing known that delivers the same amount of energy for a cheaper price than petroleum resources.

It's time too that people stop being so angry at the oil companies when the government is paid more in taxes on oil (nearly 3x) than the oil company profits.

How about drilling in our own known fields in the US?... How about allowing new refineries to be built? The known reserves in the US are likely the tip of the iceberg... It's time to shut up the environmentalists and lobbyists that won't even allow us to drill in our known regions. Oil is not going away and we will never run out.

You all watch Fox News too much. High gas and oil prices are because of the devalued dollar and Iran war speculation boosting the price of a barrel. There is NO shortage of oil. Just ask the Russians that have made deep earth drilling a science. They tell us oil is a renewable resource because the earth’s core continues to produce it. Talk with oil geologists not on Exxon's payroll and they might explain it to you. US sits on world's largest reserve of oil in Alaska and its not drilled yet. Why? Environmentalists? Hardly! OPEC is a problem because they don’t want our worthless paper currency? Blaming them is a government distraction to steer us away from the devaluation issues. It’s almost always been cheaper to import than drill. Even at today’s barrel prices it’s still cheaper to buy foreign oil than drilling and oil producers make ridiculously high company profits. Partial answer…Stop fomenting Middle East wars, granting Israel preference and welfare money and curb indiscriminate government spending to help revalue the dollar. Not too much to ask. Getting the oil companies to tap Alaska reserve is another story.

I would love for you to explain how the earth's core is producing hydrocarbons. This should be a fascinating educational experience for all of us.

If you don't like how Americans consume energy, move to Canada! Also, cheap energy is not a right. Those who provide it deserve compensation. Since when is making a profit a crime in America? I thought we had a market economy. Leave it to the idiotic democrats to raise the red flag and flush our country down the communist toilet.

It's time to shut the tree huggers up! They make up a very small % of the population but have the loudest mouths. Yes we do need to worry about the future but we need to take care of today first. We can and have the technology to harvest our own energy resources and i'm sure we can do it alot cleaner and enviro friendly than they do in the mid-east. This would be HUGE for our economy. Now shut your LOUD mouths tree huggers!

DRILL! DRILL! DRILL! DRILL!

And yes, I've been saying that for years. Holy cow, people, we can get our OWN OIL, and do it in a far more environmentally friendly way than ever before.

DRILL! DRILL! DRILL!

I agree with The Rock. Stop buying products from China and India. If we did, it will lower the rate of growth in their countries and reduce their consumption of oil, allowing the price of oil to drop. And "tree huggers" should like it because it reduces the need to drill and wasting fuel to get alarm clocks from China to the U.S.