Originally Posted by noetsi";p=&quot

If energy was remotely a free market you might have a point but its not. First supply is regulated in several methods that decreases oils availablity to increase profits. OPEC limits wholesale supply and oil companies use their control of refining to further limit the supply, the later is often more important than the former in raising prices. During the hue increase in oil prices last year, OPEC was pumping more oil and there was no need for the type of jumps in gas cost that occured. Energy companies used the perception of shortage to rapidly increase prices, they also claimed falsely that refinery damage in the Gulf cut back on production when in fact the actual cut back in production was very small due to the hurricanes.

Nor is demand free. If the US was making signficant efforts to increase transit, recycling, etc there would be far less need for oil. But companies influence US politics and thus very little emphasis is given these solutions, and almost none by the two oil men who run the country now.